


Borealis

by FrostyEmbers



Category: Warframe
Genre: F/M, Frost and Ember stuff, I make mysterious lore, Lotus is Evil, With A Twist, i hope i don't make accidental plotholes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-19
Updated: 2018-08-30
Packaged: 2018-12-17 11:59:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 10
Words: 21,925
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11851128
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FrostyEmbers/pseuds/FrostyEmbers
Summary: The presence that the Tenno drove back aeons ago during the reign of the Orokin Empire is returning. With their ways to harness the power of the Void forgotten, the Tenno turn to their mother, the Lotus, for guidance. But is the Lotus even worthy to be trusted, especially in times like these?





	1. The Wake

Cold. That wasn't normal. When was the last time I even felt cold? Probably never. But now I felt it. It was the same pain I inflicted on my enemies. The sound of gas depressurizing and suddenly I was free falling to the ground. Landing ever so gracefully on my face, I couldn't even move. My muscles were cramping up after being so long in a claustrophobic and freezing sleep pod. I forced myself to sit up, hands planted on the ground. The world was spinning as I slowed my breathing and closed my eyes. I sat there for a few moments, letting the dizziness subside. How did I even end up here? I barely remember myself being put into cryosleep to heal from my injuries I'd gotten from some battle. Taking a good look at my surroundings, I realized I was in an Orokin Ship, with its ornate gold pillars and facades lining the grand hall that seemed frozen in time. It was all in perfect condition, but the place was eerily silent, deserted. I got up to my feet, leaning onto a pillar for support. Looking up to the cryopod where I was, I saw a small engraved sign.

Borealis. That was my name. Fragments of my broken memories flooded my confused mind. The memories were all fuzzy, a fight, sentients, weeping children of the colonies, a wild and burning fire. Excalibur. To be precise, Excalibur Prime, the first of the Warframes. There was something about him. Something had happened. I shivered. Better not think much about it now. I was part of the Orokin Royal Guard, tasked with protecting the Orokin Emperors and the Council of Executors.

I began exploring the vast ship, its many halls and corridors stretching for what seemed like an eternity before me. I was alone, no one was in sight. It as a while before I stumbled upon a very familiar corridor. The door at the end of the corridor opened and I stepped in. Immediately, I recognized it as my own room. It looked cozy, with messy piles of paper on my work table, my own foundry in the corner dusty and unused. My bed on the opposite side of the room, with its messy sheets and the pillow on the floor.

There was a large holographic screen on the centre wall with some sketches, plans and photos. Turns out, I was working on designing some weapons with another Vauban warframe. Never really made those plans reality. The Vauban had sent me some messages telling me that my weapons were not practical and would be unable to handle the stress. Blah blah. Whatever.

Moving on to the right, there were maps and layouts of various Orokin ships, one particular floor plan detailing the defenses on what seemed to be the chamber that held the pods of the Seven Orokin Emperors. Seemed imporant. I peered closer. It appeared that I had made some arrows pointing around the map and descriptions about defense formations and contingency plans but they were cancelled off and were scribbled over.

On the edge of the screen were some photos. There was a photo of a Saryn Prime who was standing next to me. We were at a graduation ceremony, her wearing the Tenno Graduation Syandana which I recognized. It was my sister, Calla. At the corner of the photo was her signature with the words "Thank you, from your lil' toxic sis". I let a little smile as I began to remember the memories we had. She had just graduated from the Tenno school and was just recruited into the Orokin Royal Guard. Wonder where she is now?

The next photo was a Volt Prime laughing at some dinner table with me sitting beside him. I think the Volt was ironically named, Amp. We must've been quite close friends, judging by the way he was slapping my back and laughing hysterically while I was drinking a cup of tea trying not to choke. The photo below that was a group photo of many Warframes. Excalibur and I were standing in front of the group in a side hug, like we were close buddies. I recognized Amp and Calla in the photo as well, also a Mag, Nyx, Rhino and a Titania who all seemed very familiar.

When I reached the last photo at the bottom of the screen, I froze. That face. It felt like a blade had just pierced my mind. I deleted it immediately, not wanting to think of it much further. The image haunted me. Something with her wasn't right. I sat down slowly on the edge of my bed. The kaleidoscope of memories continued to reveal even more of itself, adding to the complexity of the situation. No, it hurt. My head started spinning as I fell onto my bed, where sleep embraced my exhausted body with open arms.

* * *

I dreamt that I was surrounded in a storm of fire, a large mechanical-like being watching me, laughing maniacally as I screamed in agony, my armor melting and my warframe systems overheating. Looking around for help, I saw a Nekros warframe lying lifeless next to the burning wreckage of a ship and an Equinox running away from main source of the fire, where I was. There was an Ember Prime who was running in to save the Equinox. I tried shouting at her, but my cries were muted. She caught sight of me waving my hand as I took cover next to the corpse of the Nekros. She looked back at me, her eyes emotionless as she clicked on the console pad next to the escape pod. No. How could she do this? The pod ejected. I was alone. Left to die facing this beast. Looking back at the large being, in a desperate attempt, I fired two shots from my shotgun, hoping that it'd at least prevent it from hurting the others. I quickly slipped back under cover. I hid under the corpse of the Nekros, using it as a barrier to block the unbearable heat that grew ever stronger, But that couldn't stop the fire forever. My body erupted in pain as I doubled over, my vision becoming more and more blurry.

The dream shifted, and suddenly I was talking to a female warframe. I was explaining something to her, my eyes wet from tears and emotions. She did not reply after I had finished talking. She clasped her hand over her mouth, trying to muffle herself from crying, her tears already streaming down her face. She ran away, the doors closing behind her. I fell on my knees and wept, my emotions that were held up inside me finally released. It was my fault. I could've prevented it earlier, but no. I was selfish, and I took something that wasn't mine.

* * *

Snapping back to reality, I woke up in bed, sweating profusely as I shakily got up. I gazed upon the large window in my room, allowing viewing of the vast emptiness of space. I think I sat there for at least 10 minutes, regaining composure and slowing down my quickened breathing before I grabbed my weapons that I had found in my room and headed for the Hangar to find a landing craft for me to use.

For after what seemed like a million years of walking through the many halls and corridors of the Orokin ship, I finally reached the hangar, where there were many landing craft still left unused there. I caught sight of my own landing craft that I had used. A Mantis landing craft, with its med tower air support that I preferred as it worked very well with squads of other Tenno. Deciding to stick to my own equipment, I opened the console and selected my landing craft. The pod of my Mantis opened, revealing a cavity, shaped like a warframe. I stepped inside, and the pod rotated. When the doors opened, I was in the ship. My equipment still in perfect condition, I directly headed for the navigation console.

Out of nowhere, a cephalon's voice pierced the silent atmosphere that I was used to for the past day. I jumped slightly, making a slight yelp that might or might not've been way too high pitched for a male.

"Are my sensors picking up this correctly? Is that, is that you, Operator?"

"Yes, it's me. Pl- "

"By stars, I was so worried about you! I thought you Tenno were all gone" Ordis, the ship cephalon, interrupted.

_What? Gone?_

"What do you mean,  _gone?_ " I asked, bewildered.

"Um, like how you Tenno wip -  _killed the bloody Orokin sc-_ er, the Orokin. I apologize for that error. Running system diagnostics."

Man, he was really glitched. But more importantly, the Tenno wiped out the Orokin? That couldn't have happened. My worst fears had become reality. They had listened to HIM. Him and that wretched lady that they blindly followed. Lotus. She had ordered the Tenno to kill the Orokin, but I remember strongly arguing against that order, as it would destroy the fragile balance of the multiple factions under an already tense relationship with the Orokin. Wiping out the Orokin meant destroying the balance of power, the Corpus and Grineer left free. The Orokin bio-weapon left to ravage uncontrollably. To make matters worse, the Orokin were in a war with the Sentients, and a direct massacre after the war would've caused the most adverse effects compared to a more strategic time when relations between the other factions have improved. I could only imagine the current lives of the innocent citizens of the system, gunfire, war and conflict rampant throughout the system.

And those Tenno, those foolish and blinded people, followed their "mother" like her puppets.

"All systems nominal." Ordis abruptly interrupted my train of thought.

"Set a course for the Larunda Relay." I wanted to see for myself the Tenno. Maybe I could get to know the whereabouts of the others.

* * *

I lay back in the landing pod and waited. At last, the pod spun open, and I stepped out of the pod. I was in a large Hangar. The colossal size of the relay left me in awe. I saw many other Tenno entering their landing crafts and also landing crafts that were docking in the hangar. It was busy traffic. I walked to the main concourse, where I got some suspicious stares from some of the other Tenno. Did they recognize me? Ignoring them, I caught sight of a less crowded spot. I leaned on a nearby pillar and looked around at the other Tenno. There was a diverse range of Tenno in the Relay, colourful and bustling with life. From the corner my vision, I could see a group of Tenno intently discussing something. I overheard some of their conversation.

"Is that Frost a Prime?"

"Nah, he ain't wearing the right helm."

I rolled my eyes. They must be talking about me. I pretended not to hear as they continued bickering on.

"He's got some really shiny bits on him, see? "

"You got that right. Non-primes don't have those shiny bits don't they?

"I think he's a Prime."

"I don't think I've met a Frost Prime before."

"Very rare, aren't they? "

"Wasn't there like, only one ever built Frost Prime?"

"I heard construction of the other 6 were halted due to the Sentients destroying the lab."

"So that's  _the_ Frost Prime of that duel? "

"I mean, that's the only one right? "

"Oh crap. I've got to tell them about this, " one said, the Nova, while running away into the distance.

I walked up to the group. What duel were they talking about. They jumped when they saw me coming.

"Uh, hello. I heard you guys were talking about some duel. Care to enlighten me?" I asked, as nicely as possible.

"You don't remember, do you? " the Atlas asked.

I shook my head.

The Banshee began "Well, you see- "

She was interrupted with the flicker of lights in the relay.

 


	2. Flames and Memories

_Borealis POV_

The lights flickered in the relay. All activity in the relay grinded to a halt. Absolute silence.

A raspy voice rang throughout the concourse.

"You can't run from your past, Borealis."

I stood frozen at the spot where I was talking with the Banshee. The Tenno in the relay were looking around confusedly.

"There is no place to hide."

Realizing what was happening, the Tenno eventually set eyes on the ominous black cloud forming in the centre of the concourse. A dark and shadowy figure appeared from the black mist. The figure rose from his kneeling position and pointed his large sword directly at me. All eyes in the relay were suddenly focused on me, whispers and murmurs could be heard all around. The figure eerily resembled an Excalibur Warframe. I unsheathed my sword, expecting some kind of duel from this mysterious figure. Meanwhile, the other Tenno cleared the area, making a large ring, encircling us both in the middle. They had their weapons ready, but they were not attacking the dark figure. They were just looking at us, unsure of what to do.

The dark figure charged first, a Slash Dash reminiscent of an Excalibur . My instincts took over, and I rolled out of the way, putting my sword in front of me for a defensive stance. He began violently slashing towards me at a rapid pace. I parried and deflected each hit with my longer blade, which proved an advantage as I made counter offensive maneuvers and began my own flurry of attacks. He was also very skilled in defending against my attacks, his lightning fast reflexes compensating for his shorter blade. In his flamboyant defensive stances, I caught sight of a flick of his wrist and a shuriken coming from his right. I managed to dodge it, but it hit an unfortunate Limbo who was just a bystander. A Trinity nearby came to his aid. I continued to push even harder, hoping to find a weakness or flaw in his defense, but he was quick to adapt to my changing styles of attack. The figure managed a leg swipe which caused me to lose my footing and balance. I rolled away to prevent tripping and falling down.

We were separated again, circling each other after having known the skill of each other. The figure had a very familiar fighting technique. I felt that I'd ever fought someone like this before.

"Impressive. You haven't lost that sharp eye of yours. And maintained your technique after all these years." he taunted.

"I don't know who you are," I replied in a shaky voice.

"Of course you don't. Been put to sleep for centuries while I roam the system alone. Now I its time I think I'd want a rematch."

"What do you mean?"

He didn't reply. Instead he vanished into a dark mist again and reappeared from the left, already in a mid leap as he tried to slash from above. I brought my sword up to parry the strike but as he did that, he'd thrown another one of his shuriken from above, through the gap between our swords. This time, I couldn't avoid it. It hit me on my side, its sharp monofilament blade penetrating the armor of my frame. I quickly dislodged the shuriken as he landed and charged at me. I managed to block his charge just in time, sparks flying off our blades. Locked in a battle of strength, I found an unexpected weak spot in his arm length and attempted to perform the disarming maneuver. I twisted my sword and jabbed upwards before-

"Borealis!"

The figure was horrified when he had realized his mistake. However, I never completed the maneuver, as I lost concentration after hearing the voice that had called my name in the distance. The figure, shocked by that near loss, backed away.

"You're lucky this time. I won't mess up that easily next time we meet." He noticed the growing crowd of Tenno staring at us.

"Here, you might need this."

The figure tossed me a small sphere before vanishing in a puff of black smoke. Confused, I examined the strange sphere he bad given me. It was black with red highlights on its surface. Engraved in the shell was the word "smoke." It was a smoke bomb, effective for making a quick and stealthy escape. Bewildered, I was wondering why I had a connection with such a sinister figure in the past. Even more concerning was why he was "helping" me.

Looking up, I saw the other Tenno still standing in that ring, motionless. They exchanged whispers with each other as they noticed a few Tenno pushing their way through the crowd.

"Bro! Bro! Broreals!"

It was a very familiar voice. Looking up to see who it was, I saw a Volt Prime clumsily stepping out of the crowd. The Nova who had reported me to him following behind him. He ran up to me and embraced me in a rough hug. It was Amp. I awkwardly hugged him in return as I looked at the Nova behind him as she sheepishly waved hi. I returned her wave as Amp released me from the hug. Noticing the Tenno who were staring at us in silence, Amp exclaimed,

"Don't you all have anything to do? Go back to what you were doing. Nothing to see here. Gonna bring him to the Lotus. Now shoo!"

"There will be no need for that."

The voice of a woman pierced the silent atmosphere. From the top of the stairs, was standing the Lotus herself, with an escort of at least thirty Prime Warframes behind her. A collective gasp among the Tenno, and they gave a bow to her as she began to descend the stairs, her entourage following behind. Amp slowly stepped away from me and gave a slight bow to the Lotus as well.

"A new Prime has awoken?" she asked, her voice, grim.

"Yes, Lotus. " Amp replied as he stepped to the side.

"Of what Warframe? "

"It's a Frost. A Frost Prime," he replied, gesturing to me.

The Lotus stopped at a raised platform at the foot of the stairs and looked towards me.

"I see you have finally awoken. I've been waiting for this day for a long time." she began. "You step foot in this relay, and have attracted attention of the Stalker. Do you have any memory of what you've done?"

"I don't remember anything." I lied. Well, I wasn't lying completely. I just didn't know what she was talking about and probably couldn't remember it anyways. I slowly stepped back, cautious of what she might do. She could not be trusted.

She turned to face the other Tenno in the relay. "You may already know this Tenno. He is the rebel Tenno of the Battle of Lua. This Tenno has broken our Ancient Laws. He has taken the life of a fellow Tenno."

* * *

_Amp POV_

Silence.

Damn it. So much for keeping a low profile. Change of plans. I motioned for Eliana to step back into the crowd. Borealis had this look on his face I'd never seen before. A look of shock and despair. In normal situations, he would be calm and composed, but this one was surely too much of a shock for him, especially after cryosleep.

"Do you have anything to say for yourself?" the Lotus continued.

He did not reply. I backed up a little and tried to conceal Eliana who was curiously peeping out of the crowd by trying to stand in front of where I was. She was still young. A Nova Warframe, who had really great enthusiasm and was willing to stand up and fight. I decided that it'd be better for her not to be involved. It would get messy with the involvement of the Lotus and the Primes. With the Lotus were the crowd of Prime Warframes that were highly loyal to her alone. I spotted my captain, Thurman, in the crowd eyeing Borealis suspiciously. He had brought along the other 5 Volt Primes with him. I'd personally describe Thurman as an arrogant and narcissistic megalomaniac who thinks he's the boss of us other Volts. There's no denying he's the fastest of the Volts, when even compared to the other Volt Primes. I continued to scan the crowd of the Primes. No sign of Calla.

The Lotus nodded at the Mag Prime standing beside her. The Lotus' most trusted Lieutenant, and the Commander-in-Chief of the Tenno Order, Ava.

"By the Lotus' order, this Tenno shall be apprehended on the charges of treason and murder." Ava spoke.

The Lotus whispered a few words to Ava before turning on her heels and leaving the Concourse.

"I want him taken alive for interrogation." Ava continued. "Bridget, you know what to do."

Crap. They've been planning for this haven't they? Bridget was a rather hyperactive and impulsive Ember Prime with a terrifying temper that could make a Rhino cry in terror. Believe me, I've seen it first hand. An active member or our clan, she was a rebel too. She stepped forward with the other 6 Ember Primes. Armed with Ignises and Heat Daggers, they were a Frost's worst nightmare. I looked at Bridget. Her complexion was grim, but there was doubt in her eyes. The sound of buzzing and the doors of the Concourse were all on lockdown.

Meanwhile, Borealis was still frozen in place like an idiot. Bridget and her team slowly advanced on him. The floor under him was already frosted, his Warframe limiter must have gone haywire. He suddenly snapped out of his trance.

"Wa-wait. Stop. I-"

The flames of energy on Bridget got stronger and brighter as a large column of fire slammed into the ground in front of Borealis. He managed to roll out of the way and form an icy globe of protection around him.

"Please let m-"

The other Embers began a barrage of fireballs aimed at him. His globe remained intact and protected him from the flames, although it was taking heavy damage. Realizing that there was no point in an argument, he took one last look at me. I nodded ever so slightly, so as to try to remain undercover. The flames engulfing his globe with more intensity, he threw down his smoke bomb and disappeared in the smoke and flames.

* * *

_Bridget POV_

Borealis was one tough fella, but I'm sure couldn't have withstood that. As the smoke and flames cleared, there was a collective gasp among the other Tenno.

He's  _gone?_

Well. That was awkward. All that fiery drama for nothing. I turned back to Ava. She had a slightly worried look on her face.

"Lock down the entire relay. I want no one leaving the vicinity until all sectors have been thoroughly searched." Ava exclaimed as she turned and ran for the Lotus. The other Tenno grouped themselves into their squads as the Primes gave the instructions to their respective squads.

I caught sight of Amp in all the commotion and managed to get his attention. I silently mouthed the word "dojo" and he replied back with one of his goofy "ok" poses. Ugh, that guy was cringey.

I rushed back to my room and began packing my equipment for a quick return to the dojo. My roommate, an Ivara, entered the room as well.

"Got him tagged." Auryon said as she tossed me a tracking chip

"Good shot. I didn't see a thing," I replied. Plugging in the chip into my communications armband, I equipped my weapons and headed for the meeting chamber with Auryon following close behind.

* * *

_Borealis POV_

"Ordis, set course for home base!" I screamed.

"Oh my, Operator! Are you alright? You seem bur-"

"Back. To. Base." I repeated.

"Very well. Shall I send medical support?" Ordis continued, as the engines began.

"No."

The wound in my side burned. I think that shuriken was poisoned. I took some time to review what had just happened. So, an edgy Excalibur comes and tries to kill me, but fails and helps me instead by giving me a smoke bomb. Met Amp out of nowhere in the relay, accused of murder by the Lotus herself, then I nearly got melted into a puddle by 7 Ember Primes.

Hmm. Definitely sounds fishy to me. But accused of murder? I'm pretty sure I would never do such a thing. Or would I? I don't remember. What I do know is that the Ember in the middle of the group was definitely very familiar. I've seen her face somewhere before. After cracking my head for a few moments, I think I've got it.

She was the same Ember in my dream. The same one who left me alone in the fire to burn.


	3. Healing

_Eliana POV_

The meeting chamber was filled with Tenno, many of them I couldn't recognize. There was a tense feeling in the air as Amp hurriedly walked into the room and stood at the head of the table.

"My fellow Tenno, as you may already have heard, our brother, Borealis has awoken from cryosleep. To update everyone on the situation, he was sighted in the relay before an assassination attempt by the Stalker, which failed, took place. The Lotus herself had ordered the immediate apprehension of Borealis after she knew about his awakening. The attempt to apprehend him was a failure as he disappeared mysteriously mid-battle. " Amp spoke. He sounded dead serious, very unusual for him, as he typically would be joking around constantly.

There was murmuring among the Tenno before he continued, "The situation is grave. If they find out what we're doing here, you'll be apprehended as well. I invite anyone who does not wish to participate in this insurgence to leave the room.  _Now."_

I looked around. No one moved an inch.

"What do we do now?" an Ash asked.

"A rescue attempt? Bring him back to the clan dojo and keep him hidden? " suggested an Oberon.

"The dojo? How are we going to hide him there? If they find him there we'll all be dead." someone called out from the crowd.

"That is very true." Bridget added.

"Perhaps we should keep him under safeguard for the time being until a better alternative can be made?" I asked.

There was a collective agreement among the Tenno as they nodded their heads.

"That seems like the most viable option currently." Amp spoke. "Now we need to know of his location."

Bridget, who seemed to be have her train of thought suddenly interrupted, extracted a chip from her armband and slid it over the table to a Vauban sitting next to Amp. He promptly plugged it into the Navigation console and a holographic projection of the system appeared above the table in the middle of the room.

Enlarging the image, the Vauban peered curiously at the marker that showed Borealis' location.

"He seems to be located on an Orokin ship orbiting Lua."

"In that case, who shall volunteer to go and locate him?" Amp inquired. "Bridget?"

She seemed reluctant but she agreed. Along with her were Auryon, Denver and Gloria. Auryon was a good mate of Bridget. They spent much time together. She often liked to spy on other Tenno and eavesdrop on their conversations. Meanwhile, Denver was a Rhino warframe who had to be one of the biggest and ripped warframes I've ever met. He liked to brag about his muscles a lot and can be usually seen at the dojo gymnasium working out for his intense bodybuilding routine. Gloria was a Titania warframe. She was a quiet person, often bullied for her small size. Sometimes, she likes to shrink to butterfly size and flutter about in the Dojo gardens. She is a close friend of mine. We'd usually go watch movies together.

The meeting ended a while after that. After the Tenno left the room, Amp and I were left alone together with Bridget and her team.

"Report in on his condition once you've found him. Maintain voice messages every ten minutes."

"You'd better be listening out, Amp." Auryon smirked.

Amp rolled his eyes as he turned on his heels and left the room.

* * *

_Gloria POV_

We arrived in the large Orokin dreadnought after a short stop at the dojo to get more supplies. In the hangar of the ship was already docked a Mantis landing craft.

"Could it be his?" asked Denver.

"Most probably." replied Auryon.

We headed off to the north wing of the ship, where Borealis was supposedly located according to the location tracker on Ember's armband. We went through many corridors and halls until we reached a large room.

"He should be in this chamber." Bridget said.

Just as she ended her sentence, the lights flickered again.

"DAMN IT STALKER! WHY YOU GOTTA DO THIS?" Denver screamed.

The Stalker appeared in the corner of the chamber. He was confused. He seemed to be searching for Borealis too. I shrank into my archwing mode and fluttered closer to the Stalker as the others readied their weapons.

As quick as lightning, a shuriken zipped past Denver's helmet and flew towards Auryon, slicing a part of the arm. I flew to her aid as Bridget and Denver advanced on the Stalker. Auryon was gripping her right arm with her left one.

"I can't move it. I can't."

"What do you mean you can't?"

"My arm. My bow arm. It won't budge."

I examined her arm closely. Blood was streaming out of a deep gash that had severed a few ligaments and warframe optic nerves. That's it. Her arm was disconnected from her systems, unable to move.

"Your arm's optic neves have been severed. I think you should use your prowl and stay hidden first as you won't be able to fight." I advised.

"Son of a-" she sighed. Reluctantly, she went invisible.

Meanwhile, Bridget and Denver were slowly losing ground against the Stalker. His blade was quick, with Bridget and Denver barely keeping up. I fluttered closer and provided them some support with my aura buffs. The Stalker was focusing more on Denver, his strikes more powerful towards him. In a swift movement, Denver's Scindo clattered on the floor. He ran for cover behind a pillar as Bridget continued to defend herself from the Stalker's maiming strikes. He equipped his Opticor, a heavy antimatter ion cannon made by the Corpus. Unfortunately, he could not get a clear shot without Bridget being in the way. Bridget was unable to defend his strikes fully, causing her to lose ground and retreat back into a corner. Denver took a shot at the Stalker, staggering him. It gave Bridget the opportunity to escape from the corner.

"Stop."

I turned around and saw a dark figure approaching from the door.

"It is I who you are looking for. Leave them alone."

Borealis was standing at the open door, Tigris ready and aimed at the Stalker. Denver and Bridget quickly took their aim on the Stalker as well.

"Borealis. What does it take to make you understand? "the Stalker spoke, looking at Borealis right in the eye.

Before they could even take a shot, the Stalker had already vanished in his signature puff of black smoke. Auryon reappeared from the corner she was hiding at as I went out of archwing mode and grew back to full size.

"What on earth is wrong with that weirdo?" Auryon spat.

Borealis was still standing there, breathing heavily as Denver and Bridget approached him.

"You okay there dude?" Denver called out.

He did not reply, instead he was staring at Bridget in a strange way. A look of fear and anger on his face, his Tigris dropped onto the floor. He extended his arm and leaned onto a wall, staggering as if he had lost balance. Denver rushing forward, he collapsed onto the floor.

* * *

_Denver POV_

Running a few kilometers with a ragdoll on your back isn't exactly an easy feat. Even with Bridget helping, Borealis still weighed a ton. Although I must admit, he  _is_ considerably lighter than I had expected. Auryon was scouting ahead, making sure we had a clear path in front of us, while Gloria was clumsily holding Borealis' weapons in her arms. The oversized Galantine caused her to lose her balance several times as she stopped to pick the occasional Argon Crystal she found along the way.

"Amp!" Bridget barked into her comms.

No response.

"AMP!"

"R-Roger that. I've gotten the Med team ready." came the reply.

"Be ready to haul this little Snowflake's fat ass to the medical wing once we arrive," Bridget called out to us.

I sighed. We arrived at the Hangar shortly after and left for the Clan Dojo immediately. In the crammed Xiphos landing craft, we set the unconscious Frost Prime on the floor, with barely enough room for us to sit down. Why did Auryon have to insist on us using  _her_ Xiphos? It was (and probably still is) really messy, with multiple crates of her arrows left lying around on the floor. During the journey, she was busy counting her arrows, lazily throwing misshapen arrows over her shoulder into a large pile of bent and broken arrows in the corner.

Gloria, on the other hand, was counting the Argon Crystals she had collected along the way and dropping them into a golden bucket at her feet. Bridget was seated next to me, as she stared blankly at the floor, her fingers fidgeting mindlessly. Sighing again, I decided to catch up on some sleep.

* * *

_Angela POV_

Waiting. Amp had told Apollo and I to get ready in 5 minutes. Ughh. He just  _had_ to take away my precious sleep again. Apollo wasn't looking that much well either. Some distinctly green coloured tufts of cotton that were obviously from his blanket were still stuck in between his horns. The sound of his foot tapping on the floor in the silent room was seriously getting to my nerves.

"Could you pl-"

The door slid open, and in came Bridget and Denver with an unconscious Frost in their arms. I motioned them to put him down on the medical examination table where a set of scanners scanned through the Warframe.

"Armour integrity at critically low levels due to overheating. Immune response susceptible due to cryosickness." Apollo read out the hologram next to the table. His eyes widened.

"Class A neurotoxin detected in bloodstream. Externally sourced from puncture wound on waist."

Damn it. This is quite bad.

"Synthesize a basic antivenom and give me more details on the neurotoxin." I instructed Apollo as I went to the chemical lab to search for a more potent antivenom. Hmm. Class A antivenoms were rarely used as they had strong side-effects, possibly causing long-term damage to certain body tissues.

"The venom is of type TXV-Y100. Currently spread to the lower body. Estimated 5 minutes for venom to reach heart." Apollo called from outside the lab.

5 minutes.  
That was enough time.

* * *

_Eliana POV_

The med bay was empty except for a single pod in the corner where Amp and Bridget were. There were sitting down on a bench near the pod while a Saryn sat on a chair next to the pod, half asleep with her head leaning against her arm which was propped up on the armrest. Calla. I hadn't seen her in a long time. She probably rushed back immediately from the Secondary Base in Sedna.

As I approached the pod, Calla suddenly awoke. She noticed me and gave me a smile as I took a seat on the bench, in between Bridget and Amp.

"So how is he now?"

"He's, um, doing quite ok, according to Angela. Just that some neural tissue might have been destroyed. The artificial neural tissue might need a while to develop so he might these few days to rest." replied Amp as he drummed his fingers on his knees. "So far, he hasn't regained consciousness quite yet."

I think I had probably been sitting there for about a half hour when Calla suddenly got up from her chair.

"He's awake! Amp!" She dragged a half-asleep Amp to her side. "How are you feeling?"

"Water" His raspy voice could barely be heard.

Calla took the glass of water on the counter but she was stopped when he raised his hand, reaching for the glass.

"No, I can do it myself."

His hand gripped the glass, shaking as he did so. As he held the glass, his shaking arm caused some water to spill out. Losing his grip on the glass, it slipped from his fingers and shattered into a million pieces on the floor. He sighed and turned away from us.

"Look, you're gonna be alright. You were poisoned by his shuriken. You just need some time to rest." Calla told him as she slowly poured a second glass of water into his mouth."

"What about my leg?"

I looked down and gasped. I hadn't noticed it yet. There were tubes of blue liquid linked to his left leg. It was supported with a brace, restricting movement. The leg was wrapped with bandages

"It's just antivenom. Making sure all the toxins are flushed out of your bloodstream. Your leg may feel weak after awhile but you'll be fine and walking soon." Amp replied as he slowly picked up the glass shards on the floor.

"Take it easy, bro. Let us help you. Don't put stress on your body." Calla added.

He sighed, but gave no reply.

"I've got to go. Kela de Thaym's forces are gaining on us. I'm sorry but I wont be able to be here to help you." Calla abruptly said after an awkward moment of silence.

"However, I think there are some things that the both of you need to settle." she said,as she shot a look at Bridget


	4. Suspicion

_Borealis POV_

Sleeping didn't help much. The dream was set during the meeting that was held when the Lotus gave the Orokin Death Order. I was in an intense debate with the person at the head of the table. He shone with a white glow, a glittering golden ring adorned his helmet's horn. A billowing cape embroidered with fine gold thread hung from his shoulders, a golden lotus flower emblem on it. Percival slammed his fist on the table.

"Disloyalty!"

"Think of the consequences. What good would it bring?"

"It could mean our  _freedom_ "

I sighed, "Yes, but what would happen to the system? Removing the Orokin would tip the scales of the balance of power."

"Then let it be so. The Lotus is wise. She knows better."

"How can we know she can even be trusted?"

"She continued Margulis' legacy after Margulis passed on."

"But what if her death wasn't an accident? What if her death was already planned by the Lotus so that she could snatch away the Tenno from her?"

"How dare you accuse the Lotus of such treachery!" He drew his nikana and pointed it at my chest.

The Tenno in the room murmured and whispered among themselves while another Tenno at the other end of the table rose to her feet. Her helmet depicted the swirling galaxies of the universe with a single optical sensor in the middle, shining brightly.

"Perhaps it'd be better if you two don't kill each other over this matter. It needs more time for discussion among the Council," she spoke as she turned to face the other Tenno in the room.

"Ava, we do not have time. A decision must be made immediately. The Lotus wants this order executed 3 days from now!"

"A majority vote," she replied.

The other Tenno in the room agreed. One by one, they dropped either a golden disc or a silver disc into the large hollow sphere in the back of the room. A gold disc meant that the Tenno was in favour with the order while a silver disc meant they disagreed with the execution of the order. After voting, an equinox counted the 9 votes (that did not include the 3 of us) in the sphere.

"6 in favour to 3 not in favour," he called out.

"I veto."

Percival looked at me , his eyes narrowing.

"Do you need some time to reconsider? Are you sure of your decision?" Ava asked, her arms crossed and facing me directly.

"Yes," I replied firmly, walking out of the room. Percival had his hand covering his face in frustration as Ava had her hand on his shoulder, standing next to him.

The dream abruptly ended to the feeling of pain in my leg. I jolted awake as I winced from the pain. Angela was at the end of the pod, adjusting some dials on the hologram console. She realized that I had woken up.

"Oh, sorry about that. Changing to a weaker antivenom. Your leg is healing up just fine." She absentmindedly said as she continued typing something on her holographic clipboard.

"Will I still be able to walk normally after this?"

She switched her attention to me. Calmly, she put her clipboard down.

"Yes you will. But there's just a minor hiccup." She looked around to make sure there was no one around.

"What is it?"

Bridget appeared at the side of the pod.

"He'll eventually find out anyways," she shrugged.

"You will walk with a slight limp on your left leg as some tissue has been permanently damaged from the toxin."

* * *

_Bridget POV_

He seemed very calm. Maybe a bit too calm. After Angela had left, I took a seat next to the pod.

"You alright there?" I tried asking.

"Yeah."

The tone of his voice was probably too cheery, like he was trying to cover something up too much.

"Um, well, I wanted to say sorry for what happened in the relay. And also back then in Lua."

I could've sworn he flinched for a second but he was back to looking like as if nothing had happened just milliseconds later.

"You did what you had to." He paused for a moment.

"I mean, about what happened in Lua, I don't know what I was doing. My warf-"

"I know." he said.

Wait what? What was that even supposed to even mean?

"I could sense it back then. It was Sentient energy, not Warframe energy." He shifted about uncomfortably and quickly looked away from me.

"Oh good." That'd save more explaining.

...

Silence.

This is getting uncomfortably awkward.

"And uh, Borealis, I know things between us have been complicated and I hope that we can leave that behind us."

"It's ok. I already left it in the past long ago. You know I can't hold grudges." He sighed and closed his eyes, clearly in discomfort with the topic.

Perhaps silence was the best. He eventually dozed off after an hour. Watching him, his face was sad. A face that hid a thousand memories that no one might ever know of.

* * *

_Auryon POV_

That felt much better. Thankfully, Apollo was able to restore those optic nerves in a jiffy. Now, it's back to business. Next thing on the checklist, find Bridget. Going back to check our room, her papers were scattered on the floor. On the table, a note read : "In the med bay." Pft. Bridget and her lame excuses. Going into Prowl mode so as to avoid suspicion, I headed to the med bay. This was because the majority of the few thousand Tenno in the clan were still unaware of the Frost in the med bay to prevent word from getting out.

The med bay was still empty. In the corner, I could see Bridget was already asleep, slumped in her chair. Borealis, too, was already sleeping in the pod, his mouth open and drooling while he slept. I decided to let those idiots continue their sleep.

Making way to the Grand Hall where most of the Tenno were, I climbed back up to my favourite perch on the highest platform in the hall. There, I could observe most of the activity in the Hall. It was just another normal day, everyone minding their own business. A Nova was trading with a Harrow. A Saryn chasing a Loki with an axe. The occasional smoke trails left behind by a creepy Ash.

 _Wait_. There's too many smoke trails. Who'd need that many? I scanned the area, occasionally seeing a dark shadow passing through. After a while, I caught sight the Ash standing in a shady corner on the furthest side of the hall. He was looking around the hall for something intently, as if he knew the Frost Prime was here. I took out my Vectis and peered through the scope. His shoulder emblems were the violet six petaled lotus.  _Crap_. I jumped down from the platform after reengaging Prowl. Gotta find Amp quick.

* * *

 

_Gloria POV_

From this room, surveillance cameras around the dojo could be monitored. I stared at the Ash on the holographic screen. He had a dark purple tint to his frame, a glint of emerald in his eyes.

"What is he doing? " Amp squinted at the screen and peered closer.

The Ash continued standing there, his arms crossed lazily. Slowly and subtlely, his hand made a flicking motion and a small disc could be seen attached to the wall behind him. The Tenno around him, all unaware, walked past giving him no attention.

"Lock down the entire place. Auryon, Eliana, let's go. Greg, keep us updated on the comms," called out Amp as he left the room.

Greg was one of our clan's best engineers and architects. He was the one who developed the security surveillance system in the dojo. Usually, the Vauban Prime could be seen fiddling around in his Foundry. The only visible emotion that he showed on his complexion was pure boredom. Nothing really interested him. Nothing except the extremely complex contraption that he was building in his workroom where he spent most of his time with his assistant, Allen.

Now, he lazily sat in the chair facing the console of the large screen. We stared at the smaller screen on the left. They never failed to amaze me how quickly they moved. Amp provided the team with a speed boost while Eliana constantly opened wormholes to breach any obstacles they faced.

The Grand Hall was locked down but the Ash was already in the next Hall before the lockdown was complete. The squad was closing the gap between the Ash quickly.

* * *

_Victoria POV_

"They say this one's a toughie. Took 3 people to take him down."

Hmph. Like they ever remember how many people it took to take ME down. While waiting for them to bring him into the room, I scratched my claws across the table slowly just to annoy Clu, our clan's "soothsayer" and creepy psychic. It had already become a routine to us.

"Would you please stop that?" Clu was visibly annoyed as she sipped her cup of tea. She always had that cup of tea at hand. I wonder if she did it to make her look more calm and professional.

The door slammed open and the Ash was brought in, in nullifier handcuffs, by Denver. The latter hastily shoved the former into the chair facing us.

"Now, sweetie could you please tell us why you did that?"

No response.

I decided to spice things up with a bit of the fear factor. Claws screeched against the cold hard metal. Clu cringed from the horrendous sound.

"Please?" I asked, as nicely as possible.

"No."

"Ok."

Typical procedure. I punched him once, and while he was distracted, Clu used her magical mumbo jumbo to read into his mind.

Clu froze. She tapped into her earpiece.

"Greg, are you there?"

"Yeah," came the reply.

"Get out- "

She was interrupted by the sound of static.

"Greg?"

"What is it?" I asked.

A tear rolled down her cheek.

"That thing was an explosive."

* * *

_Gloria POV_

"Sector 327-12E has been heavily damaged. Immediate repairs necessary" came the voice of the cephalon.

The atmosphere in the conference room was tense. Tenno were nervously shifting around in their seats. Amp sat down with his arms crossed, visibly depressed. Bridget, who had apparently returned from the med bay looked blank in thought.

"They know now."

"Who is 'they'?"

"The Zorak Clan. Extremely close ties to the Lotus." Clu spoke up.

Everyone was silent. We were, in simple terms, quite screwed. The door suddenly burst open and Denver ran in gasping for air.

"Prisoner escaped. Empty cell. Couldn't find him."

Perhaps there was a collective facepalm among us in the room. Maybe it was just me.

"How is he right now?" Clu asked, turning to Bridget.

She sighed. "He could remember quite a bit of the past. After telling him about his leg, I felt he was distressed, although he isn't showing it much."

Amp finally spoke after an unusually long period of silence from him. "We've got to get him back in shape quick. Without him, we stand no chance against Ava. The power of the first three are on an entirely new level."

"I'll try talking him when he's awake. See what he may know." Clu said.

"As for the others, we need to maintain a subtle perimeter around the med bay. Keep your eyes peeled for any more suspicious activity and be on high alert."

Angela stood up, her hand over her heart, soon followed by the rest of us.

"For Greg, it must be so."


	5. Pink

_Clu POV_

"What do you think you're doing?

"I'm sorry. I had to do that. I thought you needed help." I replied, cautious of the blade of the Skana that was pointed just millimeters away from my chest.

"I don't  _need_  help. Stay away from me." His voice was cold and emotionless. A blue glow emitted from his warframe, a stronger form of Tenno energy.

I decided that I had invaded enough of his privacy and slowly backed away from the pod.

I thought back and reviewed what I had seen in his mind. Because he had cut me off, I couldn't dig deeper into his memories. I did manage to feel his emotions though. Guilt. Anger. Sadness. They clouded his mind from the underlying cheerful personality he once had. Strangely, one random word stood out from the rest of the emotions in his mind.

_Pink?_

* * *

_Denver POV_

Many things happened at once. The comms were blaring with the voice of a panicking Auryon.

"I'm detecting incoming ships affiliated with Zorak Clan! They're converging near the Western Wing."

The sound of Angela on the other end came, "Apollo and I are on the way there. The first few ships have already arrived at the Hangar."

"Red Alert, Delta. This is not a drill. Maintain stable perimeter around the Med bay. Auryon, give us locations of the incoming squad," said Amp over the comms. Right after finished speaking, he appeared at the end of the hallway, sprinting towards me with Gloria, Eliana and Bridget following closely behind him.

"Been on patrol since just now. Nothing suspicious happening just yet." I called out to them as they came closer.

We formed a line across the entrance to the med bay.

"Remember, act naturally until I give the signal. Unless we're questioned, do not respond aggressively." Amp said. "Now get into your positions."

I took cover behind a crossbeam above the entrance while Eliana and Gloria hid behind 2 arches in the high ceiling-ed hallway. Amp and Bridget remained on the ground.

"Squad is en route to your location and arriving in approximately 4 minutes." Auryon reported in on the comms.

"How many people are we up against?"

"Around 6 Warframes, from what I've seen."

"Ok. Seems fair enough. If things go wrong, we'd probably be able to hold them off."

"Um, Amp? We might've hit quite a big snag." Auryon said shakily.

"What is it dear?" Bridget interrupted.

"Some of those warframes are Prime. And-

"So what? I'm pretty sure we could hold em' off." Eliana interrupted again.

Auryon sighed across the comms. "Of course I know that, you idiot. If not, I wouldn't be telling this to you right now. This is worse than that."

"Ava's here."

* * *

_Bridget POV_

"Change of plans. Get out of hiding everyone. Blend in with the crowd. We can't fight them with her on their side."

They quickly left the hallway, leaving Amp and I alone.

"Well, it's been a fun ride." I said to him.

"Yeah." he replied, nodding his head slightly, deep in thought.

We struck a totally staged conversation about the Clan's logistics and assets. It kinda went something like this.

"Ah, Bridget. What do you think of Denver's proposal to expand the current game room?"

Oh my god. Why did he have to bring up this topic? "I think it's useless and a waste of time and resources."

"No it isn't! We have the workforce to gather the resources. We have the tech. Think of all the possibilities. A pool, a bowling alley, the bar Kenny wanted." He stopped and gave me a smirk. "I know you've always wanted a bar in the dojo."

"Shut up, will you? I don't think we have the assets to endorse such stupid-"

I was cut short by the door sliding open.

"Halt in the name of the Lotus."

We turned to face the group. Ava had brought along with her, another Rhino Prime. The other Tenno in the squad consisted of the Ash who had come to spy on the dojo, a Chroma, a Valkyr, an Equinox and a Frost.

"Huh, anything the matter?" Amp asked.

"We've gotten rumors that Borealis is located somewhere here. In  _your_  dojo." Ava answered.

"Oh my, you don't think we've hidden him in our dojo? We would never do such a thing." he replied, arms crossed to firmly assert his statement (I guess?).

"Yes, I know, but we still need to conduct a search of the dojo. Just in case, you know." she replied.

"Ok then. Search wherever you please." I replied. My heartbeat raced as I braced myself for the inevitable.

The squad entered the med bay immediately. Ava's Mag Prime Warframe began glowing blue. The Void Force. It granted its users that were capable of harnessing its power a unique 5th ability to complement the 4 basic abilities of a Warframe. There were only 3 known users of the Void Force. They were the first 3 Primes: Percival, Borealis and Ava.

Obviously, they headed for the one pod that was closed in the empty med bay. Suddenly, Angela and Apollo burst into the room running. They froze for a moment at the horrible situation before them.

"Ah, just in time. We need you to open this pod right here."

"Uh, sure." Apollo answered and walked slowly to the side of the pod. He typed a code into the holographic console and the pod depressurized, vapour and gas hissed, revealing . . .

An empty pod.

* * *

_Amp POV_

Bridget was still visibly shocked after the unexpected disappearance of the somewhat immobile Frost Prime. We followed the squad as they continued searching around the dojo. Tenno were confused as their quarters and the rooms were searched. Ava went together with the Equinox , who at that time, looked like he had been dragged along unwillingly into this search party. The Valkyr was paired up with the Frost. The Valkyr (I think her name was Rita) constantly looked around the dojo suspiciously as the Frost trailed behind her, his boredom apparent on his face. Meanwhile, the Chroma was teamed up with Fred, the Rhino Prime. Fred was quite the gentle giant, with his imposing frame standing at a bit more than 2 metres tall. The skilled fighter he was, he strangely had a fear of water. The Chroma was unknown to me. He brandished a large Scindo axe as he walked around with a slight jump in his step. Which finally leaves the Ash, who searched the dojo alone. His emerald eyes scanned the room constantly as he walked from room to room, as if he knew something was still here.

A few nightmarish hours ticked by and finally, the squad regrouped.

"Well, it seems that nothing has been found." Ava said, slightly disappointed. "Thank you anyways Amp, for your cooperation."

"Anytime, Ava." I replied, waving as the group left.

I looked over to Bridget, who seemed to have the same thought as I did.

 _An_ _swers._   _NOW._

* * *

Gloria POV

"When did you last see him?"

"He was still asleep then."

"Denver, any movement in and out of the med bay in the last two hours?"

"Nope. Been standing there for the past two hours. Saw nothing."

Amp sighed as he slumped back into his chair. It had been 4 hours since they had left. 6 hours since he disappeared. Many Tenno in the dojo were still confused from Ava's recent visit. I'm pretty sure the clan will be under high monitoring after this.

Everyone in the room was silent. Suddenly, Angela leaned forward from her seat and asked, "Where's Clu?"

As if on cue, the door slid open and there stood Clu. She looked like as is she'd run a marathon (which would've been easy for a normal Tenno. For Clu, however, it was a feat of her already below average physical stamina).

"He's disappeared." she said in a raspy voice.

"Yea, we kinda figured that out." Auryon replied, rolling her eyes.

"Oh." she paused for awhile to catch her breath. "I helped him escape. -huff- Distraction. Disguise. Memory wipe." She slumped into the nearest empty chair. "'I'm never doing that again."

"Wait, what?"

She breathed in once again. "After trying to talk to him, he convinced me to help him escape. He disguised himself as Martin, the Frost who was with the Ava's search team. Martin's landing craft was the last to arrive, thankfully. At junction 78, we made a swap, knocking out Martin with Borealis replacing him in his disguise. I don't know what happened to Borealis next but I spent the next hour performing a temporal memory wipe on Martin. I left him behind unconscious in his landing craft."

"Wait." said Apollo, who had been twiddling with a flower in his hands for the past 10 minutes. "How was it possible for him to walk? How did he know that they'd be looking for him? That Martin was part of the search team?"

"How _did_  he know? I never really thought about it to be honest," Clu replied, facepalming. "He was walking just fine. Even running at times."

We pondered on that thought for a moment in silence, before Clu continued.

"Also, he told me about some outrageous master plan he'd come up with that involved destroying Moon Base 44 on Lua by hijacking a Grineer Formorian and blasting the base to shreds with an Trident-class Orokin dreadnought."

"Yeap, definitely sounds like him." Amp spoke up.

"So what do we do now?"

"We pack up. I'll be leaving the clan with Aaron and Miriam in charge." He nodded to the Atlas and Banshee who were sitting beside him on his left. Aaron and Miriam were both quiet people, rarely choosing to speak much. The couple could be seen spending their time off listening to music or reading and doing relaxing stuff. They say that they're "just friends", but I highly doubt it.

"We'll be taking the Centauri Orbiter. Gr-I mean, Allen, get it retrofitted with stealth cloaking." The Centauri Orbiter was perhaps the greatest of Greg's creations. Packing 16  _Chiron V_  artillery-level cannons and multiple automatic defense turrets, it would have been the flagship of the Clan's Armada. It boasted the capacity to carry 64 landing craft and also had 32 thrusters, making it extremely fast and agile, even for a ship of its gargantuan size.

"Also, Bridget, keep track of the locations of the landing crafts. We're gonna need them soon." Any landing crafts that entered the clan relay had all been attached with locating probes. Not many Tenno knew that.

"As for the rest of you, I need you to meet back here tomorrow at noon. Bring the best of your arsenal. It may be a long time until we get back here to the dojo."

* * *

_? POV_

Interesting. Very interesting. . .

A bounty hunt from the Lotus herself? She'd surely be putting up really high price.

_Borealis?_

I haven't heard that name in a long time.

Would he still be the same? Would he remember me?

Would he remember how much he  _hurt_  me?

I've got to find him. I  _must_  find him.

* * *

_Borealis POV_

This "Martin" guy sure is a neat freak. His Xiphos landing craft was free from a single spec of dust. I turned around to see him asleep, lying crumpled in a heap near the rear of the landing craft. Setting the landing craft on autopilot, I reviewed my current options. I could barge in on the Zorak Clan's orbiter but Ava would most probably be there as well. Ditching Martin's squad was also an option, but then he would be separated from his clan. The missing landing craft and Frost would also raise even more suspicions within the Zorak clan.

Hmm . . .

That Formorian right there. It's within flight range

Unless . . .

Archwing.

Yes, that could work.

* * *

 _Gloria_ _POV_

The Gardens in the Dojo were always the best place for me to meditate and wind back. Shame that I won't be able to come back here in a long time. Maybe I never will. This mission would be the toughest yet, and probably also the longest. *sigh* I'm not sure if I'm up to this. Again I wonder, how did I become part of this team? I shrank into my Archwing mode and settled myself into a lily near the large tree in the centre of the gardens. The Gardens were empty most of the time, as it was now. Most Tenno don't know how to appreciate the calming and soothing effect of nature.

_Shkkkk_

The sound of the doors sliding open? Who could it be though? I peered between the petals of the lily.

It was Amp and Eliana. Hmm, yes, very interesting. Eliana and I hang out a lot, mostly at her place watching anime. Anime is an animated series that was made by the humans on Earth a long time ago. Nowadays, its legacy somehow continues as it is being produced by the Corpus who also share a mutual interest in it. Weird, come to think of it. We normally obtain the latest anime the Corpus produce from Auryon, who I assume steals it from the caches of Corpus ships during missions. She does this reluctantly though, as she thinks "anime is trash". We'd managed to obtain her services by blackmailing her with some "materials" from a carefully thought out plan that Eliana and I devised to obtain several "classified and sensitive" photos that were of upmost importance to Auryon. I have to admit, it was pure genius.

Oh, back to Eliana. During one of our hangouts, something very peculiar happened. We were watching a pretty romantic scene in "Cosmic Interstellar Kitty 3". So of course Eliana and I were paying full attention. But then I heard Eliana mutter something that sounded like like:

_"Amp senpaiiiiiiiiiii"_

I looked at her. "What?"

She reacted quickly. "Nothing."

I leaned closer. "Hmm. . .You seem quite attached to him recently, yes?"

She buried her face into the dakimakura she was already hugging. Yes, very interesting indeed.

Now back to the present. They had seated themselves down on one of the benches that wasn't that far away from me in the garden. I couldn't hear what they were saying, but Eliana was obviously trying very hard to flirt with the oblivious Amp. Quite rude, considering the widespread acceptance of the "Ampalla" ship.

_Shkkk_

Someone else had entered the gardens? Impeccable timing. Bridget sprinted into the gardens towards the obvious pair underneath the tree. Nearing the bench, she increased her pace, sitting herself down and letting her momentum slide her butt along the bench, crashing into Amp's left side. Eliana, who was sitting on Amp's right was knocked over from the bench. It was just like that machine made by one of the scientists from Ancient Earth, Isaac Newton. Ah, it was nice to see everyone back to their usual selves.

"Heyyy Amp!" Bridget punched Amp's left arm lightly (by her standards). Amp seemed unfazed as Bridget continued to greet Eliana who was quite visibly annoyed.

"Hello there Gloria! What are you doing way over there? Come here!"

Holy shit. I realized that I had switched out of archwing mode. Eliana and Amp quickly turned back to face me, standing just next to the tree, the lily at my feet.

"Uh, hello?" I nervously said.

"How long have you been there?" Eliana asked, narrowing her eyes.

"For uh, the past hour, I think."

"Come over here, join us." Amp didn't seem to mind at all.

I decided to sit next to Bridget. Eliana would be so pissed at me right now.

"Anyways Amp, have you any news of what's happening in Sedna?" Bridget continued.

"They're making huge gains against Kela. The Grineer have withdrawn their forces from a reported 137 colonies. Sounds like Calla's doing great!"

"Well in that case, have you decided to call her back here to join us?. I mean, if anyone's gonna have a chance to convince her, it's you." Bridget smirked as she gave him a mischievous wink. I managed to steal a glance at the Nova who rolled her eyes in disapproval.

"Of course I have." he replied quickly. "She told be she'll be intercepting the orbiter's flight path on day 3."

"I miss her a lot now, to be honest. If she were here, she'd be doing something hilarious to cheer us up." Bridget continued, deep in thought. "Remember when we had it so easy? Just the 4 of us before the war."

"Who, 4? Eliana asked, bewildered.

Amp replied, "Before the war, the Orokin hadn't yet formed the Royal Guard. Therefore, Tenno would be sent only to attend to minor matters. The four of us, Bridget, Calla, Borealis and I , were placed in the same squad, and we became such good friends working together. Back then, the Orokin hadn't told us anything much about us Tenno so we didn't really know what to expect when Borealis was suddenly chosen to serve as one of the first few members of the Royal Guard. Things were way busier after the Royal Guard was formed.

"Calla was the wacky and energetic one of the group. Bridget was the tough and totally punk meanie and I-"

Bridget interrupted," He was the hyperactive one who we could never get to shut his big mouth."

Amp flinched slightly. "Well, I guess that's quite true."

I sat forward. "So where does Borealis fit in all of this? In this entire mission? What's so special about him?" I asked.

Amp arched his neck back and stretched himself to prepare for story time. "I guess, it's about time the both of you know the whole truth."


	6. Stormbringer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some of the mysteries of the lore will be revealed as Amp and Bridget try to explain the past to the Nova and the Titania

3rd Person POV

"Simple recap. There are 7 Primes of each warframe. Well, as you might have known, Borealis was the only Frost Prime to have ever existed. This is the same for Percival, the only Excalibur Prime that existed. The other supposed 12 Frost and Excalibur Primes were never built as it was rumoured that the Orokin Synthesis Facility for Excalibur Prime and Frost Prime was destroyed in a Sentient attack. The Orokin later built another facility located on Lua, where they continued producing the other prime warframes, unable to be construct the other 6 Excaliburs and 6 Frosts as the original blueprints for both warframes were destroyed as well in the incident. The next warframe to be produced after those two was the Mag Prime warframe. The first of the seven Mags was Ava. These first 3 Warframes, Percival, Borealis, and Ava were unique that they could harness the power of the Void, also better known as the Void Force."

"Yeah I've heard of it a lot. Though, I wanna ask, what does it do?" Eliana chipped in.

"No one knows. They say it gives its wielders the power to destroy Sentients. A form of a energy above that of the power of a Warframe." Bridget replied, her face filled with wonder.

"Yeah." Amp continued. "This form of energy is currently unable to be harnessed, even by us Primes as well. Many people speculate that this was due to the First Three being built entirely different from other warframes. Others believe it is possible for every warframe to achieve this power, except the skills and techniques to harness it has been kept a guarded secret only known by the first Three."

"However those theories may both be wrong. This 'power' people spoke of could be channeled by us Primes during our battles with the Sentients before the Fall of the Orokin. We were able to kill Sentients, ignoring their resistances to multiple damage types without any prior knowledge or skill regarding the Void Force."

"But Amp, Calla and I think we've got it." Bridget used her armband to produce a holographic projection showing 3 sceptre-like objects, or staffs that resembled royal standards. Also, it showed 7 medallions, engraved with various verses and quotes in Orokin. "These items were worn and used during our battles with the Sentients." Amp continued. "Bridget used to wear one of these medallions."

"Yeah," came the reply of Bridget. "These three 'sceptres' were used exclusively by the trio. The other medallions were given to Commanding Tenno Officers before entering a battle. These items, or I think they'd be called, relics, were handled with great care. Before a battle, these medallions were bestowed upon us cermoniously, or to even some extent, religiously. These medallions were to be returned after a battle as we were not allowed to keep them personally. However, the first trio were mandated by the Orokin to maintain full possesion of their sceptres."

"Okay, so what are the both of you trying to imply with this?" Gloria cut in.

"Shh! Let me finish." The flames on Bridget's helmet glowed brighter as she put her finger to her face, a sign to remain silent. Gloria instictively moved away slightly as she knew the full extent of the Ember Prime's temper.

"To make things simple, we believe that these relics are the key to harnessing this power, though, this may not be entirely true. If you've observed carefully, Ava has used this power before, even after the Fall of the Orokin. However, the Orokin had all these relics withdrawn from Tenno possesion and kept them in their vaults scattered across the Void. This may suggest that Ava still is in possesion of her sceptre."

"Therefore, these relics are our current priority." Amp continued. "We plan to split the team into two. One will search for Borealis, and the other for the relics. However, we will have to put more effort into searching for the relics."

"Why, though?" asked Eliana.

Bridget sighed, "There are more threats out there than just the Grineer, the Corpus, and more recently, the Zorak clan. Three days ago, one of our scouts found some disturbing evidences on Uranus that may indicate a more sinister prescence other than just the Grineer who have colonized the planet for a long time.

"We've found Sentient remains on multiple locations on Uranus. Our probes have detected unusually high Sentient energy from these remnants. Right now, we think the possibility of some form of Sentient uprising is high. And currently, as you may have noticed, we are unable to do anything about it."

"I don't know if the other clans know of this. However when they eventually do, all Tenno eyes would lie upon Ava and the Lotus, some of the few people who would know what the hell is going on.

"To make things worse," Amp continued. "The Lotus has issued a bounty hunt for the capture of Borealis. Dead or alive for the nice reward of 10000 platinum, opened to all, even non-Tenno. For such a large amount of money, there is bound to be a large number of bounty hunters and assasins hunting him down. From what I know, I'm pretty sure he can handle defending himself. Perhaps the only problem would be Ava."

Amp shrugged "That would be assuming if he's in good physical condition. He has this really bad tendency to get ill way too easily. That's why the toxin of the Stalker's shuriken affected him quite badly."

"Weird, though," Bridget said. "Clu mentioned that he was walking and running just days after his leg was badly damaged from toxin. Meanwhile, Angela and Apollo told me that the tissue damage would be irreparable by their power."

Gloria suddenly spoke, " Wait. So what else is so special about him? Borealis?"

"Oh yeah, heh." Amp had a tendency to get out of topic as he rambled on continuously. "The first 3 where the first members of the Orokin Royal Guard. Borealis was an Admiral, second-in-command to Percival. Ava was Lieutenant General to the both of them. Percival and Borealis were really close back then. They were nearly inseparable. Under the leadership of the Three, the war against the Sentients had turned in favour to the Orokin. However, the mother of the Tenno back then, Margulis, warned of a Sentient that she sensed, would cause the downfall of the Tenno, and in turn, the entire Orokin Empire. Percival and Ava did not heed her warnings. Borealis, on the other hand, took this very seriously. He consulted with Margulis personally and spoke to her about what she had foresaw. Margulis let him witness her vision, and later when he left, he would learn that Margulis' laboratory, together with Margulis in it, was destroyed in an "accident". Many report hearing a loud explosion from her lab, while others reported hearing what sounded like a clap of thunder and the blowing of gale-force winds. This, however lead many to suspect that Borealis had killed Margulis, as Borealis's other nickname was "The Stormbringer". This was because of his, back then, well-known ability to produce intense storms of snow, hail, lightning and ice that could obliterate anything in it's path. Even cracking walls, to some extent. However, when the Lotus abruptly stepped in as the new Mother of the Tenno, all focus was turned away from Borealis. This was the beginning of the end of the Orokin Empire."

"The once close relationship between Percival and Borealis was broken and shattered once the Lotus came. Percival remained a strong believer to the theory that Margulis's death was caused by an accident. However, when Borealis tried to warn him of Margulis' vision, he did not believe Borealis. This later grew into a deeper suspicion that Borealis had murdered Margulis."

Bridget continued, "After that, things in the Council got really heated. I remember the tense atmosphere during our meetings, the room being subtlety divided into two groups. They would sit at opposite ends of our table, and as their debates got more intense, Ava was forced to step in at times, to stop a full-out fight between the two. However during the last days of the war, Ava wasn't there when they both met on Lua. No one really knew what happened there but since then, Percival was gone. Never to be seen again. This lead to the creation of the ancient Tenno tale of the Battle of Lua."

Eliana said, "Yes, I know this one. Something about two Tenno warriors fighting. The traitor triumphed against the angel, and the angel disappeared into the Void. The traitor was then later killed by an archangel from the Void."

"Yes, that's the one." Bridget replied. "Borealis was the traitor, Percival was the angel, and I assume Hunhow, the leader of the Sentients, to be the archangel. This left Borealis and Ava at the command of the Royal Guard. During the chaos that ensued from within the Royal Guard, the Sentients had made large gains, and at the time after the battle in Lua, the Sentients were already close to breaching the barriers that protected the sacred temple that held the pods of the 7 Silent Orokin Emperors. There, the barrier was broken, and we were forced to make one last stand against the entire Sentient Army. In the first half of our battle, we were holding up well, with our defensive lines and barriers still intact. Ava was leading us in the battle while Borealis coordinated the forces from one of the Towers. The tides soon turned when Hunhow appeared. He seemed resistant to the weaker Void Energy from our medallions. Interestingly, he seemed weakened by this resistance as well. We found our weapons and abilities useless against the Sentient army. This prompted Ava to use her scepter, that could harness larger and stronger amounts of Void Energy. Yet the moment she raised it, the scepter was knocked away from her grasp by Hunhow's fragments. Unable to retrieve it, she ordered us to fall back. Our casualties were high. We had to help many of ourselves to escape as Borealis rushed down from his command centre to try and make, the most final of last stands, against the army. He arrived as we were done evacuating the last of our casualties. As he tried to raise his scepter, just like Ava, it was also knocked away from his hands."

Bridget suddenly paused. She looked restless.

Amp cut in." C'mon don't leave them hanging like that. So like what she said, Borealis had also lost his scepter, and as the last person standing against the Sentient army, he was hurled at with a firestorm by Hunhow. During this battle, Borealis suffered major injuries, perhaps the worst of our injured casualties. However, in a mysterious set of circumstances, the Sentient Hunhow was somehow struck down as he pelted his firestorm on the Frost. After the battle, we found Borealis, unconscious, but still alive at the site of the battle. He was put directly into cryosleep for his serious injuries to heal. That left Ava, alone, in charge. Without Hunhow, we'd managed to hunt down and destroy the remaining of his fragments. And you should know how the rest goes from here. We wiped out an entire civilization. Then we got put into cryosleep."

"Could you tell us how Borealis was like, back then." Gloria asked, her eyes lit up.

"Uhkayyy," Amp looked at Gloria suspiciously through narrowed eyes. "Before the whole Royal Guard thing, we knew him as this really introverted and even shy Frost, not talking to us much. In time, after he eventually got to know us more, he opened up to us more and more. From then, he was this friend who told us the worst jokes and punchlines at the worst possible moments. He smiled a lot back then. He was the guy we could speak to when we needed to talk about our problems. He was, overall, the nicest and least annoying member of our group, aside from his lame jokes. However, he would never share his thoughts with us. Not genuinely. His inner thoughts were, and still are very mysterious. After he joined the Royal Guard, he changed into a more extreme version of his initial self. He became more quiet and stern. He still talked to us, but he wasn't his usual self anymore. His eyes usually looked lost in thought as we talked. I think his role in the Royal Guard took quite a serious toll on him. Nearing the end of the war, he rarely smiled, an emotionless gaze that said, ' I'm not gonna waste my time with you if you're just here to show me your b*llshit.' Right now, I am unsure how he's up to. But there's one thing that remained throughout the time I knew him. He was always calm and relaxed. Too relaxed at the wrong times even. No accident or hiccup could shock him during a mission. It was like he was always one step ahead, making contingency plans for the millions of possibilities that could occur during a mission."

"However when he awoke and was in Larunda, I saw him shocked, for the first time. Something must've happened after his cryosleep." Amp sighed. He looked at Bridget, who seemed to be lost in thought. "Bridget, are you ok?"

She quickly snapped out of her trance. "I should be the one asking you if you're ok. You seem so stressed out recently with the clan."

"Truthfully, I am." he replied, slouching on the bench. "I think I'l-"

A tiny light blinked on Bridget's armband. She activated it and read the message that awaited in her inbox.

She looked at them uneasily. "This is weird. I've just gotten intel that an entire of fleet of Grineer Formorians was just recently wiped out. The only description provided is 'destroyed by one of their own ships?' Do you think this is what I think it is?"

Amp looked at her, confused. "What?" before he felt a hard slap to his face.

"IT'S THAT STUPID FROST KICKING SOME GRINEER ASS, YOU IDIOT!" she screamed, as she ran around setting the grass on fire, cackling with uncontrolled laughter.

Amp, Gloria, and Eliana look on, snickering, knowing what the maniacal Ember Prime is up to.


	7. Margulis

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As you might’ve realized, this whole story is set in an AU. Here are some of the things that are different: The Orokin were good. The Tenno don’t know how to harness the Void. And the Warframes are just literal walking suits of bio-armor. No Operators.

Amid the ambient creaking and hissing of the crude Grineer machinery, a figure slipped into the control room of the ship. The Formorian was travelling to Saturn, with its engines on full throttle. Strangely, the ship was devoid of all life. The crew of a thousand was dead. Dead bodies lay on the gantries and the corridors of the ship. The figure picked up the head of a decapitated Grineer. It was the ship's captain. The head was severed in a clean cut, no blood dripped from it, akin to a Japanese sashimi. The figure bent down, and her fingers brushed against the flesh.

"Fresh."

She quickly stood up and scanned the room. It was dark, and mostly silent. She quickly rolled to the side and cocked her pistols as an arrow zipped past her helmet. Her hat was punctured by the arrow, pinned to the wall. Her twin Vasto pistols quickly found their target: the hooded figure leaning on the doorway. It held a bow, coloured emerald with a white arrow of energy nocked.

"That hat was from Cetus. Authentic Ostron leather, you piece of shit." She spat on the ground, keeping her eyes on the person at the doorway. "Y'all stickslingers won't understand."

The figure in the hood chuckled. "There's no need to fear, ." The hood was removed, revealing a Ivara helmet. "I've come here to make a proposition." Another figure appeared behind her. An Ash, tinted purple with eyes of emerald. "You. Me. Him. Together. We take him down. We split the 10000 evenly."

"Who's that?" she pointed at the Ash.

"Glenn. He's edgy. And has a thing for double daggers. That's all I know about him." He nodded acknowledgingly.

"So we each get 3333 plat. But what about the extra 1 plat?" The Ash asked, his eyes narrowed. "We can't divide it equally like that."

"You people can have it. I don't care." The gunslinger looked disinterested.

"Alright, good." The Ivara looked at the Ash. "We'll have it fair and square. Rock Paper Scissors. On the count of three." The Ivara glanced at the bystander. "You count." Glenn looked sceptical.

The gunslinger was bored. "Ugh." she sighed. "Three."

There was a quick shift of hands, and a shout of defeat from the Ivara.

"Guess that settles it." she pouted.

"So what's the plan?" asked Glenn.

"We need more intel." She looked at the gunslinger. "What do you know about him?"

"He obviously has Void manipulation. From what I've seen, he can enhance all his attacks and weapons with Void Energy, intensifying his attacks and further bolstering his own defenses and armour. His warframe abilities are also enhanced. He's a Frost, and therefore can manipulate ice and technically ice  _only_. However, I hear he can create intense storms of ice and lightning. I've never seen them but it is said that the storm resembles a large air vortex with millions of razor-sharp ice shards charged with deadly electricity that allow it to penetrate shields and armour. This shows he probably has the ability to manipulate air and electricity to some extent as well. "

"Any weakness for the Void powers he got?" Glenn asked.

"It seems that he has to wield an Orokin artifact to harness the powers of the Void. Looks like a staff. There are 3 of these staffs and 7 medallions. All these items are able to harness Void energy. It might be worth considering hunting down these items before taking him out."

"Yes, that would be more advisable." The Ivara nodded. Her eyes were narrowed, deep in thought.

"It's also worth noting he is extremely proficient in combat. I once saw him take down 5 Tenno alone with relative ease in one of our training matches. His reflexes are quick. Quick enough to dodge my guns. Additionally, he was also extremely observant. Nearly nothing slipped under his sight, as his vision was so sharp. One of his most prominent assets would be his sheer strategic and tactical skills. I've seen him commanding his forces during the Old Sentient War. Missions are completed with maximum efficiency and speed. Perfect formations that were constantly shifting and were extremely unpredictable. Be cautious though. He may seem to be level-headed but when pushed past the limits, he can be impulsive and reckless."

"Well, isn't that supposed to be a good thing?" Glenn seemed confused.

"Not really. You see, I think he was probably programmed by the Orokin with his most primal instincts for war and aggression. When he snaps, he does shit like this. You know, things like killing every single person on an entire Formorian and using it to take down an entire Grineer fleet. But, judging from these corpses, he hasn't snapped yet." She picked up the decapitated head of the Grineer captain.

"No blood. This shows he's still in the right mind. He attempts to kill quick and painlessly to the best of his ability. But in another scenario where his brain's gone fried, I really don't wanna know what he might do." She dropped the head on the ground.

"You know him?" Glenn asked, scratching his chin.

"Yes." she sighed. "We knew each other during the Old War. I was assigned to work under his team for quite a while."

"You think we bit off more than we could chew?" Glenn looked at Helen.

"Nah. Go on, anything else about him? She looked backed at the gunslinger.

She thought for a while. "Remember what I said his sharp vision? He only has one eye. The Orokin made a technical error when constructing him and It resulted with his left eye being unusable and dead." She stopped for a while.

"Quick question, Helen." The Ivara looked up. She hadn't heard anyone call her by her name in a long time. "How many eyes do you have?"

"Eight." She grumbled. They're all in the stupid 'eye' in front that makes everyone think I only have one eye. How'd you think I make headshots look so easy?"

"Back to the topic, that means he has a larger blind spot on his left." Glenn looked at Helen."Got that?" The Ivara nodded. She was still visibly grumpy. "So do you know of the whereabouts of these artifacts?" Glenn continued.

"The Orokin had them hidden away in their vaults in the Void. Ava probably has hers. I'm not sure about the others."

"I think I know where one should be." The Ivara had been searching for something intently on her hologram computer as they spoke. "Here. There's an abnormally large amount of energy readings near Phobos. The vault might be hidden behind a space pocket." The group looked at the hologram. The source of the readings was located on the northern pole of Phobos.

"Well, I guess it's time to pack our coats kids. Phobos it is."

* * *

 

Ava had just disembarked from her landing craft. Her comms began blaring with the sound of chatter.

"Wake up you sleepyhead!" the sound of the Valkyr slapping the sleeping Frost was audible over the comms.

"Martin, you better wake up now or we're leaving you in here!"

Ava turned and briskly walked to Martin's landing craft. Once, she entered, the Valkyr stopped slapping him.

"Something's wrong." Ava placed her hand on the Frost's helmet. "He's been hit with a memory wipe. What happened?"

Rita was confused. "He looked just fine while we were at their dojo. Perfectly healthy, quiet and stoic and bored just like any other Fro-" she stopped. "Wait, what?"

Ava facepalmed. "You do realize he's not that kind of Frost right? Shouldn't you have noticed that his big mouth wasn't chattering away about how he can make the best ice-cream in the dojo?"

They both looked at Martin who was still sound asleep, muttering something about pedigree cows and how grass contained chlorophyll.

"It's okay Rita. I already expected something just like this. I could already tell something was off with Amp and Bridget. Their neural frequencies were off. They were lying. Borealis must've disguised himself as Martin. Explains why I could sense the strong Void Energy while we were there." She sighed. "But, that kind of mind wipe could've only been done by a Nyx with extreme proficiency in mind manipulation."

"Now we know that Amp and Bridget aren't working with us. Probably their whole clan too. We'll have to keep that in mind." Ava looked worried over something. "Rita, we need to be cautious. I've sensed some Sentient energy recently, as did some of the probes around Uranus. Let the others know as well. I don't have a good feeling about this."

* * *

 

The hums of chanting in Latin reverberated in the atmosphere as the Frost Prime meditated near a window in his room on his Orokin dreadnought. He was floating in mid-air seated cross-legged.

"The Orokin. They hailed us as Saviours. Why would the Tenno do that?" He thought. "Now what should we do? What should  _I_ do? The scales of balance in the system have been tipped. It's my fault. If I was there after the battle, Ava and I could've taken the Lotus down.”

He cried. He felt helpless. It felt ironic how he used to be the one helping people, but now he wanted help. How he was the one to be there when they were lonely, but now he was alone in the Void, hoping to seek guidance from someone. He felt so much more alone than he'd like to admit.

He was a loner for the most of his life. Back then when they were the only 3 warframes in existence, Percival and Ava were together most of the time, and they left him out. He’d spent his time talking to the Archimedians, to Margulis herself, learning their culture and language. He spent time meditating on the mysteries of the Void with Margulis. She taught him how celestial objects worked and how the Void was unlike any of it. He learnt the workings of many Orokin inventions and also their history. There were mistakes made. But the Orokin sought to correct them. Margulis became a mother-like figure to him when he was young. To the three of them. He was probably Margulis’ favourite. He was happy back then. He didn’t need friends. He had Margulis as his family, and that was all he could’ve asked for. He remembered the day when Margulis told him about his ability to create ice storms.

Margulis was thinking about something for a while. “Oh, since you’re here, I need your help.” She pointed at a flask she had on her top shelf. “Could you help me get that? I’m too lazy to get my step stool. Also, crystallize it for me please, if you don’t mind.”

He reached for the flask. It was stoppered and contained a colourless liquid. He absentmindedly absorbed all he moisture from the flask while he held it to see what Margulis was up to. She was gathering her instruments for another experiment. She took the flask from him and placed it on top of a burner. The stopper was replaced with a delivery tube connected to a glass jar about half a metre tall. Inside it was a golden sphere propped up by a stand. The sphere was one of Margulis’ own inventions. It could trap and release energy when required, albeit similar to a capacitor.

“Alright. These crystals are Astanerium crystals obtained from the Void. Burning them under heat will cause them to sublime, producing a vapour of Void energy. Now what I want you to do is to charge up the capacitor with your energy, then I’ll start the burner”

Borealis was already used to her antics during her experiments. It was better not to ask what she was planning to do. He concentrated on the sphere, and it lit up with blue markings that glowed.

Margulis flicked some switches on her console and the burner began to heat up the crystals. The vapour that was produced glowed a golden colour. Once the vapour entered the glass jar and made contact with the capacitor, something unexpected had happened. Crackles of electricity were heard and the air in the jar began moving in a vortex, small shards of ice began forming on the edges of the glass jar.

“Very interesting.” she started typing on her holographic console. “You see, Borealis, this shows that the Void can also enhance your warframe abilities, not only your weapons. So, you’ll probably have the ability to manipulate electricity and air to some extent. With the Void’s help of course.”

“Huh.”

“Keep that in mind. I feel you may need it soon.” she said, flicking the switch for the burner off. The reaction slowed down until there was nothing.

“Why are you talking like that?”  

“Oh, it’s nothing much. Just figured out I should let you know. “she brushed it off.

He was suddenly brought back to the time when Margulis summoned the three to warn them about the Lotus. Only he heeded her call, and went to her lab. She warmly received him, mentioning that he hadn’t visited her in a long time. He apologized as they embraced each other. He explained that the War had been tough, and he was required to be in battle a lot more often.

“There’s no need to worry my dear.” She smiled.

She told him the Void had given her a vision. Margulis herself had a deep innate connection to the Void. He remembered her saying, “The Void is alive. It is a mystery to science. We have not found an explanation for it. It’s just like that. How can nothing be alive? How can nothing emit these wisps of energy and radiant light? It transcends all known laws of matter and physics.”

The vision she showed him depicted the first confrontation with the Lotus in Larunda. He was shocked. It was as if he was living in his vision, when it happened in the present. It was after that vision did he develop a certain fear of Bridget. During that time, he was already working together in a squad with Amp, Bridget and Calla. They had already been working together for a long time by then, and he’d loosened up to them. However, he could never look at Bridget the same way again after that. Bridget was quick to notice and tried asking him about it. Their confrontation ended in a blast of anger from both sides. He decided he’d never tell anyone about Bridget being in the vision, and probably wouldn’t do so either in the near future. Not even Bridget herself.

Margulis told him, “It’s up to you now my child. Veto her orders if you think something isn’t right during the Council Assemblies. I know you can do it. Believe in the Void. Let it guide you.” He nodded sadly. “Be careful. If the Lotus finds out that you know her ploy, she’ll have you eliminated.”

“But what about you?”

“Don’t worry about me. I can handle myself just fine. You are far more important. You three have already been blessed by the Void to be its instruments. Don’t let your temper get to you, Borealis.”

He flashed a look of annoyance at her.

“Don’t give me that look. I’ve known you since you were a child.”

She patted him on the head. His face grew even more annoyed.

“I’m grown up now if you haven’t realized.” he grumbled.

She chuckled. “Keep yourself calm and relaxed. If you feel something bothering you, do not use the power of the Void. Like I said, it will corrupt you. Let the Void manifest itself in your actions. Remember what I taught you about keeping yourself on the lighter edge of the Void. Meditate and strengthen your mind, and the Void will be able to guide you.“

”I’ll try my best.” He nodded sadly.

He walked out of the lab after they said their goodbyes. He was nearly just walking away from the corridor to the lab when he heard the crackling of electricity again from the lab.

“Heh. She’s probably testing it again.” He thought.

He stopped. He felt something different. Sentient energy. He quickly ran back to the lab, but before he reached it, he heard a few claps of thunder and the sound of strong winds blowing.  

He rushed into the lab. “What h-“

The lab was destroyed, but Margulis was gone.

A tear streamed down his cheek. He did not like reliving that part of his life. He let his thoughts ponder for a while before remembering something.

He had sensed traces of Sentient Energy near Uranus, and also in the Plains of Eidolon. The Sentients would be returning soon. The only two people capable of stopping the Sentients were Ava and him. He didn't know if Ava even could be trusted. Even if she was, she'd have to escape from the Lotus, right under her very nose. And other than the two of them, he'd probably killed the only other person who was capable take the Sentients down.

He  _killed_ him. He wasn't in his right mind. Neither of them were. The Void had corrupted him. Corrupted them both. His mind wasn't prepared enough to withstand the power of the Void.

"I'm not ready to do this." he thought.

The last battle was already close. He had nearly died. He felt his helmet. He only had one functional eye, (or optical sensor) the other eye was absolutely useless, and below the two optical sensors was a third "eye". He never noticed it before. He tried pulling it, and it popped out. It was a sphere made of gold and glass. Inside the glass was a moving white wisp of blue and white energy. As he touched it, he felt a strong pulse radiate from the sphere. The Orokin had implanted the Void Chrysalis in his own body, the heart of the sceptre he carried. It was said to be a rare artifact from the Void. It helped its user to manipulate the Void itself.

He looked over to the displayed helmet on his left. It was his Frost Prime helmet. He rarely wore it. Only during formal occasions during the Orokin era. He preferred to wear his current helmet now. It got him less attention, and he liked it that way. The Zastruga helmet he wore provided good protection, however it limited his visibility. It was how he trained his single eye to pick up all the details when it scanned an area. He had to make do with one eye. He remembered when they first constructed him, he had to struggle with hand-eye coordination because of the eye. However it was this weakness that pushed him to train even harder. So much did he train, that he eventually matched the skill of his other two contemporaries who were gifted with perfectly able Warframes. Some said he had already surpassed the skill of Percival. He doubted that.

He looked back at the Void. It looked back at him, the cold reality it brought snapped him back the present. "Please help me." He felt like an idiot talking to the Void. It wasn't even alive. He was talking to nothing.

The wisp glowed a little brighter. 

He looked it curiously. He wiped away the tears from his eyes.

"Thanks?"

He decided he had enough sulking for a day. If he was to defeat the Sentients, he knew he had to somehow enhance his ability to manipulate the Void, to connect with it more deeply. He remembered a place. A void temple.

“Perhaps the monks there would know what to do.”

The temple looked exactly as it did back in the day. The Orokin architecture was perfectly preserved. Borealis decided to wear a hooded cloak in case there was anyone that could’ve recognized him. Stepping into it, he noticed the many rows of benches facing the sanctuary located at the other end of the building. The structure was high-ceilinged, with echoes of chanting heard from the higher levels. The entire temple was empty, except for the one monk at the sanctuary. He walked to the first bench, just in front of the altar where a golden stand displayed a glass sphere that contained a replica of a Void Chrysalis, just like the one Borealis had, except on a larger scale.

He observed the monk as he continued his vigil. Borealis recognized the robes the Oberon wore. He was a junior monk. The monk stood up and held a thurible to incense the Chrysalis. However, he seemed to be in difficulty as the thurible swung around uncontrollably as he was trying to put in some incense. The Frost stood up, and offered him a helping hand. The Oberon was startled; he did not see the Frost coming.

“Are you new here brother?” he asked the monk.

“Yes. I just joined the Order last week. Sorry, but I’m still learning how to do this.” He chuckled.

“I see.” Borealis replied, handing back the thurible to the monk.

The monk bowed at him, and headed to the altar. He swung the thurible clumsily as he walked around the altar once, the thurible smashing against the altar a few times. Borealis cringed. He knew the procedure all too well, and this was going badly.

He stepped up to the monk. “Here, let me show you.” He reached out for the thurible.

The monk looked cautious.

“Trust me.”

He handed to thurible to the Frost, who took it relatively confidently. He made one round around the altar and bowed at the Chrysalis, swinging the thurible three times as the ringing of the bells against the chains of the thurible could be heard echoing across the entire temple. He bowed again at the Chrysalis and then returned the thurible to the Oberon.

“How’d you learn to do that? That was perfect technique.” He looked at the cloaked Frost. He still could not see the Frost under the hood.

“That doesn’t matter. I want to speak with your superiors.”

As if on cue, the door on the right opened. A Harrow wearing robes of pure white stood there.

“Who are you? Where’d you learn that technique? The last I saw that being used was millennia ago, during the Orokin Era.” He eyed the hooded Frost closely.

Borealis lifted his hood.

“Vincent?”

The Harrow gasped in surprise. And fainted.

**Chapter End**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the inconsistent updates. I need a lot of time to figure out plot, and I’ve been quite busy recently too. I’ll probably be able to work on it more after my finals are finished next week. Other than that, let me know what you think of things so far! I’d appreciate some input, whether be it your comments or a suggestion on how you want to see the story move on from here.


	8. Incinerated

The monks stood silent as they waited for their superior to wake. He had been unconscious for 2 hours by now. It wasn't the first time this had happened and they knew Vincent's health had always been unstable. They were also aware of the stranger that was waiting outside Vincent's room. He wasn't just any visitor to the temple. He knew Vincent's name, and that wasn't normal at all. No stranger to the temple had ever seen, or even had the knowledge of the existence of Vincent.

"How do you know him?" the Oberon asked the Frost.

Borealis did not answer his question. "Get help."

The Oberon reluctantly ran through the door the Harrow had entered from and rang a small bell at the end of the hall twice. He quickly ran back to Vincent. The Frost had donned his hood once again and was placing his hand on the Harrow's helmet. Golden pulses radiated across Vincent's warframe as Borealis muttered something under his breath.

"What are you doing to him?"

Borealis let out a low breath, clearly aggravated by the interruption. "Healing."

"Where'd you learn to do that?"

He did not reply. He withdrew his hand as he stood up and took a seat on a nearby bench. There was the sound of footsteps and muttering as a group of monks began gathering around. An Oberon Prime took charge and ordered the others to bring Vincent to his room. He took one last look at the stranger before the doors slid close.

Borealis sat down and waited, twiddling with his fingers. There was a soft chiming of a bell and the door slid open. The Oberon Prime walked out towards Borealis as the monks filed out of the room. He still looked suspicious of the stranger.

“He wishes to speak with you.”

The Harrow was lying on a bed, he looked weak and pale. It was a simple room, with bland grey walls and white curtains that covered the wide windows that displayed the luminous clouds of cosmic dust scattered throughout the Void. There was a light fragrance of herbs from the freshly brewed kettle of tea that was placed on a counter near the bed.

“Borealis.” The Harrow got into a sitting position on the bed.

“Yes. I’m here.” He took a step nearer.

“Is the door locked behind you?”

“Yes. It is.” The Frost was confused. “Why?”

“That forsaken Oberon Prime. He’s a messenger for the Lotus.”

“How’d he get here?”

“Around a week ago, the previous Abbot was killed in an ‘accident’ in the Void. Or at least that’s what they told me. I did not even have the chance to elect the new Abbot before I received a new recommendation from the Lotus. She sent him, Rowan, as the replacement.”

“Sketchy.”

“Indeed. After the fall of the Orokin Empire, we’ve never accepted Primes into the monasteries to maintain our secrecy, since most of you Primes seem to have some kind of inexpllicable loyalty to the Lotus. But you know, we could still maybe make an exception for you. The offer is still open *cough*“ He took a sip of the tea from the cup on the counter.

“Uh, I’ll need more time to think about that.”

“You’ve had at least a thousand years. The Novice you met just now took ten milliseconds to make his decision.”

“But I was asleep.”

“Good point.”

Borealis took the kettle and poured himself a cup of tea. “So what’s happened over the past thousand years?”

“Not much. Few people come to the monasteries these days. The only visitors we get most of the time are thieves trying to steal the ancient manuscripts. Around some time later, someone got the idea to erase me from existence in the records. I must admit, it was a rather brilliant idea.”

“For what?”

“Well you know, apart from the assassination and kidnapping attempts, there are people literally willing to blow up the place for the locations of the relics of the Old War.”

“Thanks for keeping my stuff safe.”

“No problem.” The Harrow answered casually. “The coordinates are over there.” He pointed at a painting on the wall.

“You seriously just left it under that painting?”

“Don’t question it. Not even the other monks have realized it after a thousand years. And as an added bonus, the kids these days have no idea how to read Orokin.”

Borealis lifted the painting to reveal a small sheet of paper with three coordinates scribbled onto it. “You know, maybe you should’ve taken your thousand years to memorize it.” The Frost stopped for a moment. “But you’re asleep. Right.”

“Who said I went into cryosleep?” The Harrow chuckled.

“So you’re saying not all the Tenno did?” He took the paper and stuffed it into his coat

“Yes.”

“Huh. Didn’t know that.” Borealis began to take a sip of the tea from the cup he had been holding.

“Don’t drink it.” The Harrow took the cup from his hand. “It’s poisoned by the damned Oberon.”

“Wait _what?_ ”

“My time is already nearly up anyway.” Vincent looked at the Frost, who still seemed frozen in shock.

“What the hell is your problem? You must be insane!” Borealis suddenly snapped. He stood up quickly a finger pointing accusingly at Vincent, the latter’s cloak fluttering and rustling from a sudden breeze of wind. The floor crackled as icicles and frost started to form beneath his feet.”

The Harrow stood up, unfazed by Borealis’ sudden burst of anger. “Do not worry about me. I have a plan, brother.” Vincent rang a small bell on the counter. “Get him out of here!”

The energy markings on the door turned blue and four monks immediately rushed in and escorted Borealis out of the door. He took one look at the Harrow who subtly winked at him for the last time.

One of the four monks, another Harrow, placed his thumb on the Frost’s helmet while the others held him. Golden pulses radiated across the Frost before his warframe went limp. He could still see what was happening; it was as if he was paralyzed. The Harrow carried his limp body out of the corridor and began walking towards the main atrium of the temple. Borealis could hear the sliding of doors across the halls and the sound of the monks walking around hurriedly. As he was carried into the main atrium, he heard the voice of Vincent calling the monks to evacuate the monastery. A chorus of bells from the tower began chiming loudly, notifying the rest of the monks of the evacuation.

* * *

Rowan was waiting in the Sanctuary of the temple. The Harrow jogged past him with the Frost on his back.

“What is the meaning of this? Stop right there!”

“Go! Do not listen to him!” Vincent suddenly appeared in the Sanctuary.

“What are you doing?” The Prime turned towards Vincent. “For what reason are you evacuating the temple? Who is that he’s holding on his back?”

“Nothing you need to know. You do not belong here!”

“I was sent here by the Lotus’ orders.”

“To spy on our monastery, presumably? Borealis was indeed here. Go tell her that the Order will no longer pledge our loyalty to the Lotus.”

“That would be high treason. It’ll bring you and the entire order an immediate death penalty.” He stopped for a while; he was thinking.  He quickly turned towards the other Harrow with Borealis on his back. Raising his hands quickly, a flash of energy suddenly emitted from the Harrow carrying the Frost, sending them both flying in opposite directions.

Vincent was quick to react. He leapt into the air, a metal crooked staff in hand, ready to strike the Oberon. Rowan stepped back, avoiding the strike. In his hands, a wooden staff that consisted of multiple twisting branches, thorns, and leaves materialized. Vincent had gained an offensive position as Rowan was forced to block the former’s attacks. The Prime made a leap backwards to increase he distance between the two. His knew his makeshift staff was unable to achieve the same reach of the Harrow’s metal staff that was also more durable.

Vincent raised his hand towards the incapacitated Harrow at the aisle. Instantly, a burst of golden energy erupted from the Harrow who immediately got up and began carrying the Frost on his back again.

Rowan waved his hand, and the Harrow was instantly lifted into the air before being violently hurled down to the ground with a bone-crushing crash. Vincent was visibly pained from the fall, struggling to get up. He suspected his left tibia was fractured from the impact. Kneeling on a leg, he quickly looked up to see the Oberon Prime smash his wooden staff on the ground, cracking and shattering it, revealing bright energy that erupted in emerald flames on the ground. Vincent quickly raised his staff towards the incoming flames. The flames parted before the staff that glowed yellow on the various engravings its metal body, leaving the Harrow untouched by the flames. He got up onto both his feet, leaning against the metal staff for support as a thurible of pure energy materialized in his right hand. Swinging it, a spectral image of Vincent emerged and dashed forward, immobilizing the Prime in chains.  Rowan struggled against the chains to no avail.

“These chains are flowing with strong Void energy. Your warframe abilities are useless.” Through the large and tall windows of the temple, they could see around 10 landing craft flying past. “You’ll never be able to find us again. Between the pockets and folds of the Void will we be tucked in refuge.”

“You’ll never be able to hide forever! We will find you and purge the order and these anarchist allies of yours from the system.”

Meanwhile, the other Harrow was already out of the entrance of the temple. He was joined by the novice who had suddenly appeared from hiding. Together they carried a seemingly semi-conscious Borealis to a Liset that was parked at a landing bay near the landing dock. The Frost mumbled something inaudible.

“Sorry, what was that?” the novice asked.

Borealis strained and repeated, words slurred out louder, “You two – Vincent – y’all are a piece of sh-“

“Patrick what the hell!” the novice was surprised when the second Harrow poked Borealis in the face, who promptly blacked out.

“We need to get him to safety, Felix. He’s not someone to be taken lightly.”

“This whole plan doesn’t even seem safe!” Felix screamed. “What the hell is that?”

Both of the frames looked above them to see a black and crimson Scimitar landing craft descending from the clouds of the Void. It began to pick up speed and nosedived towards the two before pulling steeply back up into the clouds. Milliseconds later, the Liset before them exploded into a million pieces, a large cloud of smoke spreading across the landing dock.

“For shit's sake, is this part of your stupid plan?”

“No, but I have another plan.”

“And what does this plan involve? Maybe we should throw him off the edge. He’s getting really heavy.” Both of them took cover behind the temple’s pillars.

“Get him back inside. There will be no throwing him over the edge.” Patrick was beginning to lose his patience with this naive novice.

Vincent noticed the both of them had returned into the temple sanctuary. He shooed them away, but the two furiously signalled that it was not possible. Vincent looked outside to see the Scimitar Bomber hovering close to the ground outside the entrance like a hawk waiting for its prey to come out of its hiding hole. An audible hum grew louder as the Bomber's dual wing-mounted rotary cannons prepared to unleash a shower of energy bolts into the temple, directly at Vincent and Rowan, who was still bound in chains.

“What do we do now?” Felix screamed over the roaring of the Bomber’s engines.

Patrick didn’t reply. He just continued watching the scene that unfolded itself. He glanced at Vincent, who assumed a stance, legs spread wide apart and his arms extended in a moving in a wide vertical arc. Felix looked through two Harrows who seemed to be exchanging a silent conversation that he couldn’t comprehend. Finally they gave each other a nod that was a sure sign of two idiots who were about to pull off a stupid stunt. Felix sighed in disappointment. They were screwed this time.

After that, a few things happened at once. The Bomber’s twin rotary cannons came to life with muzzle flashes illuminating the Temple. However, none of the bolts hit anyone as they were deflected off-target by a powerful and invisible force. The tall windows of the Temple that were made of stained glass shattered, coating the floor in multi-coloured crystal.

Something else was happening behind the Scimitar Bomber. Higher in the sky, the clouds parted, revealing a vessel of enormous proportions that dwarfed the Bomber in comparison. It was black and grey, made up of cold and unforgiving metal. However unlike Corpus ships, its design was sleek and curved, aggressive and streamlined, indicating its Tenno origin. Significantly smaller than a Grineer Formorian or a Corpus Hammerhead, the Centauri Orbiter compensated for its inferior size with extreme firepower. It loomed ominously within firing distance as every single one of its mounted gun turrets aligned their sights to the Scimitar Bomber.

The Centauri Bomber let loose a hailstorm of firepower immediately. To Felix, it looked like the stars were falling from the heavens as projectiles and plasma beams mimicked comets and meteors crashing down in fury. The impact of the explosion produced even more smoke and dust that washed over the temple like a fog. The foundations of the Temple shuddered and creaked. As the smoke cleared, the Bomber was gone, vanishing yet again. Patrick turned and looked back to Vincent. Vincent gave Patrick a look that could only mean one thing.

_Go._

Sceptical at first, Patrick and Felix dragged Borealis over to the entrance of the temple. A tractor beam suddenly appeared from the Orbiter, the trio ascending into it. Vincent turned back to Rowan.

“Old man, your plan has failed. Look at what has happened. Your fight is in vain.”

Vincent chuckled. “Or so it may seem. The Void works in its own mysterious ways.”

He then placed his hands together, then opening them to reveal a powerful glowing orb of energy.

“What are you doing? You’ll get us both killed!” The Prime attempted to scuttle further away from the orb in his chains.

“That’s the whole point.” The Harrow smiled. His work on this realm was done.

The orb expanded in size suddenly, enveloping the entire temple. From its centre, a spark of energy erupted. It would have been beautiful as the energy branched out like a tree while decimating and vaporizing anything within it. The only remains of the Temple that would’ve indicated its existence was a nebula of alabaster and jade.

* * *

A Xiphos landing craft coloured turquoise and amethyst neared the Centauri Orbiter as it began to engage its docking sequence. The Saryn Prime in the craft was in a bouncy mood as she skipped gleefully from her ship into the main hangar area, where she was greeted by an equally bouncy Amp who was waiting alone. They both embraced in a tight hug.

“What have you people done to the dork this time?” The Saryn released  herself from the hug and crossed her arms condescendingly.

“He’s probably annoyed, but he should be fine.”

It sounded like Amp was trying to convince himself that things were 'fine'.

“Where is he?”

“He’s at the main lounge area.”

Calla sighed and rolled up her sleeves as she began marching towards the lounge. Amp followed her from behind, hiding his nervousness behind a forced smile.

The main lounge was a large room, but it suddenly seemed tiny in the face of the impending disaster that was about to befall upon it. Ignoring that, it would’ve been a nice place for the Tenno to relax.  With cushioned armchairs and round tables, it was also home to the minibar of the Clan’s resident bartender, Kenny. Shrubbery from various planets adorned the lounge area (it was a personal touch that Calla took pride in).

However it was in the centre of the room where Borealis sat across the table from Bridget. The Frost was seated down surprisingly calmly while Bridget was standing up pointing an accusing finger at him.

“What do you know about what they’re going through?”

“I’ve already told you I do not want to be involved in this.”

“These people are suffering out there! The Grineer are colonizing and stealing from these innocent people. Corpus are experimenting with Orokin tech and are destroying economies on Jupiter, Neptune and Pluto. On top of that, there are signs of a Sentient uprising on Earth and Uranus.”

She paused for a moment, looking at Borealis for any sign of a reply. He still looked unfazed.

“Do you not think the situation is not dire enough? Look at the Tenno. Lotus is only focused on 'forming a culture for all Tenno'. The Primes are just sitting there doing nothing as usual-”

Bridget could’ve sworn she saw Borealis’ eye flicker for a moment.

“-and the rest of the Tenno have gotten too comfortable with their own lives instead of fighting to free the System from these colonizers. Some Tenno don’t even go on any missions and have grown complacent with following the orders of the Lotus.”

“And what do you think we, a pathetic bunch of less than 20, can do to change it? If what you said about the loyalty of the Tenno is true, what chance do we have against 26 million losers messing up the system? Even if you do somehow manage to get this plan to work, what are you gonna do about Ava? And the Lotus?” His voice was deadly sharp. If Bridget was intimidated, she hid it well.

“And that’s why we need you. You ca-“

“I can do _nothing!_ ” He slammed his fist on the table. Bridget flinched. He caught his breath for a while before composing himself again. “Sorry, I can’t help you.”

“You’re the only one who stands a chance against Ava and the Lotus.”

“The Battle of Lua only proved how powerful Sentients really could be. The Orokin stats also show that I'm physically the weakest of the three. What makes you think I stand any chance against them? Against Ava?”

“You think too lowly of yourself. You know you were the one who took down Hunhow in Lua.”

“I was nearly _dead_.”

“It was still a victory.”

“But at what cost? 90 percent of our fighters were injured, and half of that 90 percent died. Our tactics and strategies failed terribly. It might as well have been a defeat.”

The Ember sighed, exasperated. The Frost was being infuriatingly stubborn. “Listen here you dweeb, no one could’ve been fully prepared for that. Even if you can't kick Sentient ass, we still need you as our leader. Our coalition with the Corpus and Grineer will not work without you. You’re the only person I trust for this. I believe you can do it.”

“You can lead it too. And so can Amp.”

“Me? Heck no, if it's on a large scale like this. I like to lead in a smaller team, with more personal communication. I can’t make speeches and attend diplomatic meetings. Someone like Amp should be fine with it but right now, he sucks.”

“Yes.”

The pair turned to look at the doorway.

“Speak of the devil.”

“He sucks.” Calla agreed as she began walking towards the table. She focused on Borealis, who did in turn did the same. He crossed his arms. She did the same, but she somehow exuded more power in her stance. He narrowed his eye looking at her. She mirrored his actions, and was somehow one-upping him while at it.

Calla shoved Bridget away from her seat. Pure sass. The latter seemed to understand as she moved to stand next to the Volt.

“I understand your loss. Vincent was very dear to you.” She spoke in a sombre tone. She looked at a suddenly very stiff Borealis directly in the eye. Her face contorted into a sneer.

“But I can see that your shitty fashion taste for black and white still hasn’t changed. Look at you!” She pointed at his coat in disgust. “It’s all black. You’re still _that_ edgy? And WHAT THE HECK ARE THOSE?”

She pointed at a pair of fluffy white slippers with embroidered black snowflakes at his feet.

“My boots were got lost. This will have to do for now.”

The Ember snickered in the corner.

“You little piece of shit. I’m taking you to get-“

“That-” Borealis held his hand up “-can wait.” He sighed. “Trust me, I know my own clothes well enough.” He stood up from his chair, preparing to leave.

“Really? Like that time you walked out wearing a Turtleneck and shorts?” she snickered.

Borealis’ eye widened. There was a look on his face. _Fear._

“It was dark and I couldn’t see what I was putting on.” He retorted. Calla was still drumming her fingers on the table top, as if silently waiting.

“Alright, I promise I’ll get something new soon so I can shut you up.” He began turning away to leave the group hastily.

Calla looked pleased with herself. “I’m not done.”

“What is it?” He said, already beginning to step away, barely tilting his head to look.

“We still need you to lead the coalition.”

The temperature in the room suddenly seemed to drop by a few degrees. Borealis whipped his head back and took another step back towards Calla.

“I won’t do it. My battles are over. It’s time for you to do this. _Yourselves._ ”

Amp and Bridget stepped next to Calla.

“Alright. Then, I’ll have to do. I admit I suck at doing this, yes. But you very well know we have no chance without the power of the Void.”

The Frost’s expression softened a little. “I’ve always seen potential in you, Amp. I’m sure you can pull it off without my help.”

“Borealis. The _void._ We need it. The medallions.” Amp tried pushing his chances more.

He paused.

“No. I will not let it be misused for any vile purposes anymore.” He took out the small parchment he’d gotten from the Temple from his pocket and held it carefully, folding it as he thought about something.

Suddenly, he hurled the parchment into Bridget’s fiery prime helmet. It was incinerated immediately.

“WHAT THE SHIT” Bridget suddenly got up, realizing what had happened and clutching her helmet in disbelief.

Amp and Calla froze halfway reaching for the parchment.

“No more.” Borealis whispered, walking away as the three remained at the table in shock.

**Chapter End**

* * *

Note: Hello I know it's been a while since I last updated this but thank you for still reading. Please leave any sort of feed back if possible

 

 


	9. Omega

Perhaps he was wrong.Was it too selfish?

Why had he even done that?

No. It wasn’t him anymore.

He couldn’t have done it.

He was selfish.

Jealous, cautious,

_Afraid._

Dangerous is the Void,

He mustn’t use it.

Driven to the brink of insanity.

* * *

Lua was in ruins. As he lay on the burning ground, lights danced around his vision. Blue, purple, green, red, pink. They called it the Aurora, the Bifrost Bridge that leads dying warriors to Valhalla. He was at peace. Enveloped in warmth, at last he was at pe-

The lights dimmed and flickered. He was suddenly freezing amid the scorching flames. The Aurora that once illuminated his vision switched into an inverted colour tone, producing dark shadows that seemed to cloud the world. Dark and hooded figures began appearing from all sides, clawing and reaching for him as he lay motionless, too exhausted to move. Fear gripped his heart as he tried to let out a scream, only to be greeted by silence.

He turned his head to the right, using every out of remaining energy he had left. A bright white figure stood there, a silhouette of an Ember Prime. The brightness manifested in flames on her warframe. Flames that flickered dangerously. fearful. Darkened shadows began creeping to her as well, and she fled, the light getting dimmer and dimmer.

Now he was alone. The darkened figures fluidly extended inky tendrils that raced across his warframe. The tendrils were heavy and weighted, his weakened warframe in no state to retaliate. The tendrils explored the seams of his warframe, curling and wrapping itself around the warframe, immobilizing all movement completely before burrowing in and slowly melting his insides at agonizing rate. Demons and spectres raced across his vision, jumping out of nothingness to frighten and weaken his already dying aura.

He could do nothing as he watched himself in agony and terror. What had he done to do this?

As if on cue, the darkened figures chanted,

“Abandonment. Heartbroken. Alone. ”

Their voices sounded eerily like Orokin chanting, except it was twisted and dark. Divine chanting turned into gloomy and occult prayers.

“Meddling with the rifts of the unknown.“

The tendrils pulled him lower, descending as he writhed in pain.

“The Death of the Firstborn.”

A bell rang, reminiscent of the Void Temple. The ones in the Temple heralded new beginnings for the wanderer. But this one brought forth the end. The Omega. Judgement.

* * *

He snapped back into reality. He was shivering. Tears were streaming down his face as he looked down at his left hand. It was flickering. He tried to touch it with his other hand, but he felt nothing. He sat there watching it for a while before it stopped flickering, able to feel it again.

Hastily he removed the Chrysalis from his helmet. Holding it, he breathed heavily as he watched it glowing brightly.

“What else do you want from me? What more?” he said aloud, voice risen with tension.

“I can’t do it. I cannot.”

The Chrysalis continued glowing brightly.

“No! I will not do this any longer!”

He sighed. It was no use. He inserted the Chrysalis back into his helmet.

"Are you okay?" a voice rang out from behind him. The Ember Prime stood at his room's doorway, looking at the Frost in concern.

* * *

 

To be continued . . .

Authors Note: Hello all, I've gotten a bit of inspiration so I'll just post the first half because i haven't yet fully figured out the second half.


	10. Update (hiatus???)

_I just realized I haven't posted the status of this fic on this site so here it is:_

* * *

 

Hello dear readers. I'll be rewriting the entire story and republished under a different title as a separate story. I'll update the link to the new fic here once I've published the first chapter.

As a rough idea of what's going on in the rewrite, the new story will roughly have the same plot, timelines, and characters. Basically everything will still be set in the same universe except I'll be writing the entire story in a different perspective and style that'll hopefully be better than the current story which was mainly done impromptu. Many side characters will have to be scrapped as I don't think I can maintain that many side-plots and interactions when the main plotline I've planned is already very complicated for me to handle. 

Thank you for reading the fic thus far and stay tuned :)

 

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave some feedbackkkkkkkk?  
> This fanfiction is already in progress on fanfiction.net but I guess I could post it here too!  
> I'm also an artist based on Tumblr and Instagram as @frostyembers. Check it out if you want to see some of the concept work for these characters.


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